Delivery Day

I spent my morning on a little fabric fusing project (which I'll write about tomorrow) and I spent my afternoon driving through Boston with Anita and Joan to deliver the craft supplies I mentioned yesterday to their new home. Our destination was the Russell Elementary School in Dorchester, MA. Our church has an ongoing relationship with the school supporting them in a variety of ways, so I knew it was where I wanted my surplus of supplies to go. It was so much fun meeting Jen, the new art teacher, and I hope to stay in touch and look for ways I can continue to be a resource.

The school was bright, colorful, and inviting...maybe some day I'll see it full of kids.

The current projects on display in Jen's classroom are based on the book "the dot"....one of my favorites. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it....along with its companion book "ish" by Peter Reynolds. They are both sweet simple stories about finding and nurturing your inner artist and empowering and unleashing your creative spirit.

Skimming and Experimenting

For several months now I've been trying to reinvent my craft room and turn it into more of a sewing room. (It's pretty clear that I'm easily distracted so my dining room is overrun with fabric.)  As part of the process I recently skimmed off some art supplies that are sitting in my kitchen ready to travel to their new home tomorrow. Stay tuned for the rest of this story....I'm pretty excited!

I paused for a few minutes today and tried a little experiment.  When I finally get back to fusing I want to incorporate words and quotes (and a little joy) in some of my projects. I had already tried ironing freezer paper onto fabric so I could feed it through the printer....so why not use Wonder-Under...before you peel the paper off.

I ironed a piece of Wonder-Under onto a piece of white muslin and cut it to 8 1/2 X 11.

I left the paper on and left one end untrimmed. It's easier to peel the paper off when there is an edge like this and it would be the trailing edge in the pinter.

Then I created a quick Pages document by copying and pasting a few quotes from my Pinterest board and included a few tiny "Joys." I fed the paper backed muslin into my printer...and it worked perfectly. I will be able to cut these out and fuse them into a few projects. 

Oh....the possibilities. If I can imagine it....and print it....I can incorporate it into my quilts.  Cool!

Wearable Art

Yesterday was a perfectly lovely day to walk downtown to a craft show.  I always enjoy seeing the local art...and there's always something new that inspires me.

I'm pretty excited about my little splurge...a hand dyed silk poncho/scarf by artist Harhari Kaur. I love scarves but don't like them tight around my neck...so this is perfect for me. I am going to love it with my sleeveless brown dress....and it looked good with the black t-shirt and jeans I had on when I bought it.  I took this photo this evening breaking my "no pictures at night" rule because the artificial light distorts the color. It's a lovely shimmery sage green and is truly wearable art.

Bloom Buddy

My very tall...not so spectacular succulent bloom now has a buddy...and it's equally unspectacular.  They border on being ridiculous....they actually make me chuckle. So until they turn brown and shrivel up....they stay.

Collaborative Collage

My dear friend Connie bought this collage from my sale....the one I struggled with obsessed about. From day one she knew she wanted us to make something like if for her daughter Andi's birthday.

Connie wanted Andi's collage to be in neutrals and earth tones. I've been mulling it over for a while...but it was time to get started because Andi's birthday is coming up in October.

I decided nothing would be better than to use bits and pieces of Connie's art. Our starting point is this original watercolor...it has a nice earthy feel and will make a beautiful focal point at the top. Maybe I should make a copy....and not use the original. I'll see what Connie wants to do.

I scanned and resized a few images of Connie's art...the pine tree is actually a sticker Andi made from one of her mom's paintings.

I thought the recipe was a fun addition....it's one their family grew up on...I love that the card has all the smears and smudges from lots of use.  I sized it down and overlayed it digitally onto a creamy back ground. We will likely stitch around it and I didn't want to cover up the writing. I still hear the family reference "Betty Taylor's Oven Rice" and "Myrtle Cox's Chicken."

So here's what we're starting with....we'll be glueing, stitching, and embellishing and finally mounting it on a wooden paint panel. Stay tuned sometime soon for our collaborative birthday collage.

Tiny Pumpkin

It's actually a gourd from the farmer's market....but it looks like a tiny pumpkin.  It's only a few inches tall with a cute curly stem. And I do love a pumpkin with a good stem! It's almost time to get out a few fall decorations.

Colorful Acorns!

Becky sent me this link to these colorful acorns she saw on the My Boho Style Facebook page. Aren't they fun?

Bring It On!

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."        

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Yummy tomatoes from the farmers market.

The beautiful photo below streamed across my Facebook page from https://www.facebook.com/. The photos on her page are gorgeous....they feed my soul.

I love the colors and the cooler weather of fall. Bring it on!

Inner Child

I fully expect the coffee table to be full of books.....13 at the moment. But I never expected it to be full of colored paper scraps when I got home from my trip. Paul was a good sport and tapped into his inner child cutting out leaves for a church project.

It was kind of a chore day....but I did spend a little bit of time ironing fusing onto the back of some of my new fabrics.  I love the colors and pattern in this batik piece. 

It's good to have a variety of fabrics ready to go with fusing.  I am going to prepare a bunch of batiks to use with all the solid hand dyed fabrics.

Stash Builders

As I unpacked today I got to take another look at my fabric purchases from the quilt expo.  I should be all set for quite some time for just about any project I want to tackle.

Small pieces of wool for felting and mixed media projects.

A little Dupioni silk to add some texture and shimmer to projects.

Batiks to fill in some gaps in my stash.

A lovely large piece of hand dyed cotton in a spectrum of blues to greens.

 

And finally a "grab bag" of Cherrywood hand dyed cotton.

Over the River

....and through the woods.  A couple of silly stories after a long travel day.  It's good to be home.

Paul and I generally take public transportation to and from Logan Airport when we fly in and out of Boston...the Silver Line Bus and the Red Line Train.  It's easy and virtually stress free. There's a point when the train comes above ground to go over the Charles River...perfect timing to text "over the river"  to whoever is home to leave for the pick-up at Alewife station. Every time I text it I think to myself...."and through the woods."  No matter how silly...little rituals are good for the soul. 

The view one direction from over the river.

While on the train I sat next to a young mother and her adorable little girl who I'm guessing was about 3.  They were chatting away in what sounded like French and I was totally enjoying their conversation even though I had no idea what they were saying.  All of a sudden my roller bag fell over and the little girl smiled at me and said "Whoopsie." It cracked me up....making me glad I was on the train.

There's No Place....

....like home.  And tomorrow I'm heading home.

I've had a great stretch here in Wisconsin with family and my friend Becky.  It was a nice mix of work and play...just the way I like it.  Today Becky and I tackled a big list of touch-ups and fix-ups. We repaired, painted, and prepped, giving her a big boost on several house projects.

I posted a while back about the photo collage wall I created years ago going down to the basement...you can read about it here.  But for quite some time now there has been a big pealing piece along the ledge...driving Becky crazy.

The spot was bad enough that once you started scraping you would end up redoing the whole wall...and there just wasn't time today to redo the whole wall with all the other things we wanted to get done.

I thought I was pretty clever with creative placement of the "no place like home" sign and the problem was not necessarily solved....but at least covered up for now. It's also an invitation for some other creative signage along the ledge which could be kind of fun.  Why not just run with it!

My tools at Becky's included a putty knife, spackle, and paint.  My tool at my sister LaVonn's was her husband Tim's grandmother's Viking sewing machine....which sews like a dream. I reworked and reinvented curtains in her bathroom and laundry room that have been too long or not working for 10 years. 

I get a lot of satisfaction crossing things off a list...especially for friends and family. But it's time to go home and start working on my own list....and THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

Quilt Show

I stayed a little longer in Wisconsin so I could attend the Madison Quilt Expo today...it was a feast for the eyes and soul.  I came home with some fun fabrics to add to my stash and look forward to more sewing this fall.  

Here are a few splashes of color from the show.  This first quilt was so beautiful in person.  They used an interesting dying technique that felt very organic and the quilting around all the shapes gave it so much texture.

The wool was just scrumptious! 

I loved seeing the all the Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics in person.....so many beautiful colors.

I'll share some of my purchases once I get home.

Late Summer Colors...

...and a hint of fall.  

View From the Porch

This is the view from my sister's front porch...I love the corn fields in the late summer.

And this is a grid my brother put together of my family that gathered this last weekend. The top row are all my siblings with my Aunt Beverly on the right.

Labor Day

I had a wonderful weekend....a beautiful family wedding celebration and fun gatherings swarming with kids.  Life is good.

This came across my Facebook feed from David F....it made me smile.  Paul and I used to have a wonderful 100 pound chocolate lab names Homer!

What Do You See?

....a hot mess...or a morning of fun at Becky's dining room table in Wisconsin!