His and Hers

Here's a blast from the past.

I went through a phase many many years ago making soft sculpture dolls.  I made this one of Paul...complete with red hair, baseball cap, jeans and a Colorado shirt.

Secretly at some point....Paul made this one of me....complete with overalls and flip flops.  Very sweet....and nice job!

Here are a few others....

The floozy....a gift for a friend...can't really remember the story of why....?

My boss at my first teaching job

And...the hobo clown...a gift for a friend.  

I also made a likeness of Johnny and June Carter Cash.  Their nephew went to the private school where I worked and the dolls were part of a thank you gift for helping us with a fundraiser. I can't seem to find a picture....all of these were pre-digital.

Walking the Yard

A few days ago I walked my yard in Lexington again with my camera and just put together this little collage.  I think the June garden is the prettiest!

The Hosta gardens are exploding! I know I've posted about the gardens before...and it pretty much looks the same....but it's where a lot of my creative energy goes this time of year...so here it is again!  

And for those of you who have been paying attention to what has been going on in my life I am stalling until I can talk about what's happening with my South Portland House.







Joseph's coat is one of my new favorite plants...no bloom to speak of but bright pink stripes in the leaves.  And it loves the shade!






I also love this burgundy/purple shamrock.  The color is just incredible!









This is the first time I have planted tall verbena in a pot....based on seeing it at a friend's house last year.  I think it's doing well...considering I don't have much sun.

Enjoying the Deck

I really enjoy the solar lights on our umbrella...and it was a beautiful evening to be out on the deck.

I love interesting lighting anyway....but when it gets powered up by the sun it's even better!

And I love it when the little solar 

globe lights come on.  

Connie's Garden

I planted Connie's balcony garden several weeks ago...

...and it's filling in nicely.  The clematis is starting to climb the railing and the moonflower is climbing at the other end.  I also tucked in an extra moonflower in the clematis pot...to crawl across the bottom of the rail.  I recently cut back the pansies to give them a second life.  It's a happy little garden!

Quilt Card

This little quilt card was inspired by Cindy Grisdela's beautiful art quilts.  I started with some earthy batiks and finished it off with hand dyed solids. I added a few french knots and a button to make it my own. I like the teeny tiny red square under the button.

This was my mother-in-law Margie's Mother's Day card.  I hope you don't mind that I shared your card Margie.

Just like I save bits of paper...I save bits of fabric.                                                                                                                                                           

I spent an afternoon a while back sewing together bits of batiks....all ready for framing in solids and a little embellishments.  Margie's Mother's Day card started from one of these little blocks.  

 

Can't wait to start playing with them again!  I have been collecting some nice hand dyed solids to work with.

Catching Up!

I had a great day today with good friends Lynn and Skip from Madison, Wisconsin. The day included lots of catching up and story telling, a tour of Lexington and the church, and was topped off with Lobsters for dinner.  If you remember from a previous post I have Lynn's art all over my house!

Lynn came with some fun gifts.....

...an awesome photo collage of some  of her beautiful photography...

...and a whole pile fun! You know a friend knows you well when they give you scraps...and they know you'll love them!  All kind of uses for these!                                         

Remember this collage I made from Lynn punched watercolor scraps?  Thanks Lynn!

Cindy's Art Quilts

A side view of my lovely art quilt from Cindy Grisdela.

"I am a fiber artist specializing in abstract contemporary work that explores the glorious world of color."  Cindy Grisdela

Here is the start of my little art quilt that I found on her blog posted about here.

Townhouses

Cindy's use of color...her machine quilting...and the stories she tells with her art quilts just mesmerize me.

Ocean Waves

"I'm intrigued by color and the way colors interact with one another. Color is such an exciting part of life--the red of a perfectly ripe strawberry, the deep blue of a summer sky, the russets and golds of fall leaves--all enhance our experience of the world. I like to use fabric the way a painter might use paint to create a mood, develop a contrast or explore an idea." 
Cindy Grisdela

City Streets

Riverbank

Her machine quilting and top stitching transform a quilt.  If you want to see more check out her blog, her Facebook page and her website. I'm a big fan Cindy!

Tweaking....

....at the other house.  My friend Lynn (the artist) is coming to visit...so I'm cleaning....and when I clean I tweak, rearrange, and ponder.

This wall color does not photograph well....it looks pretty bad in a picture...it's better in person.  

I have struggled a bit with these shelves...they're on a big wall...and with the TV it's a bit awkward.  I have been happy with the left...especially with Lynn's art...but I'm trying something new on the right.


I bought this lovely art quilt at "Craft Boston" last summer from Cindy Grisdela an artist/quilter I have admired for quite some time.  I just love it! I really wanted it in my kitchen...but was a bit worried about splashes. It's hard to tell from this picture...but it's mounted on a deep profile black canvas...which changes it from a quilt...to an art piece.




In the next few days I will share much more about Cindy....she is a huge inspiration to me.

For a while I had it centered over the shelf....but I just moved it to the left....and relocated "surprised by joy."  There is one little purple strip in the quilt so the colors work well!  I'm happier with the arrangement for now...but don't be surprised if it changes again.

I have shown you my argyle rug before in the center of the room....but here is my patchwork rug I was standing on taking the picture above.

Another colorful Company C rug....I love it!

A Splash of Color

The backyard clematis...

...to compliment the front.                                                                             

Good Reminders

This was on my Tumblr feed a few days ago...
and it's a good reminder.

















And this was on my Pinterest feed.
Bold, brave, strong....working on it.

A Completed Splash of Color!

This puzzle was one of my favorites of all time!  Anyone want to borrow it?