QUILTERS OF THE NIGHT KITCHEN GO OUT!

This past week, our group went out for a holiday party. As you can see, Lenni had her head tatooed in henna, which I thought was so cool. Only Lenni could pull off something like that! I predict that this will become a trend, although she's bald due to illness and not fashion.

Check out the close-up:

Here's Ellen and Madi. You can view their art websites on the link list to the right.

Here's Lenni and me.

And finally, my next round robin project. Unfortunately, this is the last or second to last round, and I've only had the chance to work with 2 greens and 2 red quilts in addition to the black and white requirement. It makes it pretty boring. OH, and did I mention, it has to be a round of triangles? I don't have much energy to put into this one, so don't expect any interesting results this time. I'm thinking simple broken dishes units.

GLAD TO BE BACK

Hi everyone! Glad to be back quilting again - and slightly less stressed out. My arm still hurts in places but the hand is much better. Still I have to be careful not to overdo, so I'll type little and post pics more, OK?

I am happy to report that I finished my round-robin homework. Remember, it came to me this way (left). The assignment this round was "any form of applique."

If you recall my thinking process, I mentioned Andy Warhol dancers, but was mistaken, it was, as Irene said, Keith Haring dancers that came to mind. I was going to put a square border, but it would've needed to be very thick to separate from the busy-ness, and even then I decided it did not separate enough. What to do? Why, turn it on it's head, of course! This was a hard decision because I knew that Ellen wanted to keep her center as squares, not diamonds, but nothing else satisfied me. If I had more time, I would have turned it again on point and added black triangles, with twisty arrows pointing outward appliqued in that toned down red and white that is the background here. I showed it to Ellen already, and she loved it, and she would have loved it even more if I turned it again. But the next quilt meet is tomorrow, and it's time to put this homework assignment to rest.

Here are the drawings I made, freehand, based on some web browsing on Haring. I put my guys on a diet as you can see!

Thought you might like to see some close-ups of the appliques. This first one's my favorite:

THERAPEUTIC BOOKS

I don't have any quilting to show you this post, as my last couple of weeks have been very stressful. Thank God everyone is OK, but I've had so much nonsense to deal with that I think I've had my fill for the year. Major car issues, computer problems, cell phone company customer service peeves (Cingular), and worst of all my hand. That's why I have no quilting to show you. The stress and exhaustion shows on my face, and I hesitated to include this picture because of that. Then I thought, what the heck? This blog is supposed to be a journal of my life - my real life. So there I am, in all my stressful glory.

What is a quilter to do when she can't quilt? Why, read about quilting, of course! I have a funny story to tell, if you have a few minutes...

Do you remember Rundy, the quilt I showed you from Houston? Fellow blogger the Calico Cat told me about the artist's website (Marilyn Belford). I was excited to learn that she has workshops even though as a mom I'll most likely not get to that this decade. I'm not sure if I mentioned that this enchantment started last January in Orlando, when I bought a quilting magazine and saw Rundy for the first time. I just stared at it, went through the magazine, and stared at it again. Months passed and I forgot Rundy until the Houston show. There it was in all it's glory. I'm sorry I didn't get more time to spend with it - I thought I'd go back but was too exhausted to continue.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving, when I spent some time with cousin Nancy. Nancy has an interest in the arts of all kinds, and asked me how my quilting was going. I mentioned my blog, and she checked it out the next day. After seeing my post on Marilyn Belford, she thought the name rang a bell. She called her long-time friend, and yes, it is her mother! Small world huh? Nancy's friend said her mom just came out with a book - !!! - a book?! I hadn't noticed it on her website when I checked it out the first time, but on a second look there it was!

And here it is...(just click on the pic)

No, I don't get any commission, although I wonder how many people will buy this book because of my post? I haven't had a chance to read it but it looks thorough, and the techniques are definitely do-able for any quilter. She has a process where she computer-manipulates a photo to make it easy to select fabrics for shading, etc. I recommend it highly. When I'll get to actually making a portrait is another story.

Between that book and a trip to the book store where I picked up the latest Quilting Arts magazine and this book:

"Creative Quilting - The Journal Quilt Project." This super-thick book is chock full of terrific quilts from people who participated in the journal art quilt project. One quilt per month, chronicling any aspect of your life or the world. Each is the size of an ordinary piece of paper. I usually prefer technique books but this one has so many quilts using so many different techniques that I really learn something new every time I flip through.

I am making it through my hand's healing process. How did I hurt my hand, you ask? Since my littlest started Nursery I decided to do some home improvements and over-did. It's officially a tendinitis. It still hurts and I have to watch myself with the groceries, lifting kids, etc, but I am typing this so that's a start!

You know, I've really missed you guys! I appreciate every comment and find it motivates me to keep going. Thanks for that.