Retirement Planning

Here's the beginning of a totally fun creativity journey using mostly Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  I'm about 1/3 way through the fusing process and now will need add some other softer value flowers and foliage, etc  There's so many little pieces to work on having limited space at my vacation spot.  I'll hold up on this til I get home as I'm lucky enough there to have a custom BIG Board ironing board that fits a 30 x 60 table... so  there I can design and fuse on the same surface. This is like broderie purse on steroids....   It will either require a lot of quilting to hold edges or maybe even a netting overlay.  Will see.  Looks fun, huh?  May need to do a class on this.  Pattern is titled Flaura by Fiber Worksinc.

My Hubby Has Wings!

It's "The Good News" for him.  First... Ray, a daily runner since age 14, has long spoken of creating such an image as this in glass. It's done and he is pleased with the result.  The skin tones in this stained glass were fussy cut to put shadows in the 'right' places. He loves and has adopted the quilters term of "fussy cutting."

 

This man I love marches ( 'or runs') to his own drum... and leaves late this week for a 3 week  backpacking walkabout in Australia.  I pray for his safety and return .. yep...I'm a worry wart wife,  but in my defense not without cause, he came home severely injured summer before last. Enough said!

Maybe Next Visit...

I've been to Sedona dozens of times but never before came across this small engaging quiet boutique hotel... How sweet it is!.... El Portal sits adjacent to Los Abrigados Timeshare resort... But oh so quiet and sweet.This is the main entrance to El Portal .

Walk through the shadowy entrance to a lush open courtyard. 

They do serve breakfast/lunch to the public too. Next visit I think. 

On this visit we shared lunch at Oak Creek Brewery and Grill at Tlaquepaque  (www.oakcreekpub.com)

check this out

A microbrewery beer tasting of seven unique beers.... plus a tray of flatbread ,veggie, grapes, strawberries, orange slices,  (brie/bleu/swiss) cheeses. Delicious!!! We shared it all and were stuffed  still bringing  plenty of fruits and cheese back 'home'  

Disappearing in Sedona

Once a year a gal pal of mine( Laurie)  and I  travel to Sedona, AZ  for a week of chilling and sewing, and  just whatever. We do what we call traveling alone together staying in adjacent timeshare units on the banks of Oak Creek. Sweet!!!  Ofcourse, we shop, go out to lunch, etc together but back at home turf' do whatever we wish,   Sooo Sew beautiful!  I'm starting work on the most simple pieced quilt .. I needed some almost mindless sewing !!!!   So here goes the Disappearing Nine Patch which requires no written pattern and in this case... not even cutting out fabric as I'm using Moda's  mixed selection of 5 inch squares in  contemporary charm backs. ( 'Basic Mixologe' - with colorful focus fabrics and  background fabrics from "Behind The Scenes' pack offering  lighter value greys and taupes. The process is so simple it's just fun.  First .. a  slightly perplexing looking sewn nine patch with 5 focus, 4 background fabrics.

 CUT VERTICALLY AND HORIZONALLY  at the mid point of the block's center . In this case... the remaining background squares are 4 1/2 "  side seam to side seam... so the split cut is made 2 1/4 " in from side seam edge.

Now time to re-position  2 diagonal squares.   I chose to re-position the  bottom right sub-block to the top left and vice versa. Some chose to merely rotate 180 degrees in same sub block position.. Your call !

Finally re-stitch  together and press....    Yahoo ...how simple is that.  

 My quilt will be made up of 20 blocks (each made up of  different fabrics)  and likely a small border. How easy is that? You won't see the end of the quilt here...  This will call for 3 sets of charm packs and ofcourse, I brought 2 sets with me. Apparently I needed a vacation!

My talented Artist Hubby

One of the many reasons I was attracted to  Ray ( my hubby) is that he's a busy  and interesting guy. He is leaving in 2 weeks on a walkabout in Australia ( backpack... hostels, etc)  and  upon his return he hopes to offer the following stained glass in an Arizona Gallery. One of the reasons Ray was interested in me is I have a ton of art supplies/ equipment....so he can borrow MY stuff!  ;-D
Well, there may have been other reasons, but whatever the case, it all works well for us. A few pics of recent stuff.. pretty reasonably priced as I see it. Contact ((patt@pattsart.com)) if interested in any of these items. All come framed in either metal or wood edges with closed chain affixed top left and right.  Click on photo for enlarged view.
Ray is also a lifelong runner .. Everyday.... at least five miles.  Runner's High... 22 5/8" x 17 1/4" $300.

My personal favorite.... Mountain Sunrise ( 20" x 19.5") $385 ... includes multiple varieties of near clear  textured glass . We put the original in our front door. Love it!

We are surrounded by jays in this mountain canyon.   Noisy Jay - 18.25" x 20"   $270.   The darker perimeters( beyond the clear glass seen here are actually reflections of the rock canyon walls beyond the clear rippled glass. 

The most complicated piece ( most pieces  and challenging  glass cuts) is this Fire Dragon  ( 13.25" x 23.5 ")  $280     Dragon is surrounded by opaque BLACK glass.

 Merlin is quite a guy... The 'crystal ball' in the center significantly changes what is viewed through it.   Again.... the rock walls of the canyon appear beyond the rippled clear glass on the perimeter.  This is the largest of pieces shown... is framed in hardwood... $350

Lastly ( for now at least) a small sweet red rose surrounded by black glass. 8.75" x 12"  $85.00

Dare I say he is in his studio working on yet another right now.

A FEW Retreat Pics

I work pretty hard at my teaching retreats... on the move all the time and little breaks to photograph works in  progress. I captured a few.... sooooo cool to see peoples growth and well just having fun counts too.  I'm lucky to have a great group of people that keep coming back....

 First time student Robin Halliday nailed this one and is on a second painting!   WOW!.

 Michelle H's portrait work is spectacular. Cute boy and HAT!

I'm so proud of Cindy T. ....  This guy is in progress here.  He's BIG!

Diana's sunset scene makes you want to go to this lake.

 Janmarie Halliday is well on her way to creating a spectacular piece.  She's such a talent... She could teach this class.

Lynnita's sweet angel Olivia has had a spectacular year... Made it through heart surgery and is growing .  This painting is just the beginning of a grand plan. ;-D

 Diane is going great things these days....   talk about growing skills quickly. I so love it   ( c) .

 Our dear Mr Tinsley is definitely the leader of his puppy pack. They adore him and likewise in return.

Coming from Native American heritage, dear friend Terri  is on her way to another spectacular image. Oh how fun this would be to quilt!

Diane Kubiak  brought a slightly out of focus, monochromatic print of her father from his commercial fishing days. It's a real challenge working from a limited reference photo... but I think we got the feel of him and his work. 

 Finally.. just mailed to me... a finished fabric painting by Elodie who was fascinated with how one might paint the dozens of water drops on her photo of a hibiscus.  She figured out just fine...   Lovely. Boy would this be fun to quilt.  Kudos Elodie!

                               (c)copyright

I think sometimes people think I'm nuts with such a variety of subjects all being painted at the same time.  I can't imagine doing it any other way....   This because I don't want anyone telling ME what to do.... so why would I???     Happy painting and quilting to all.  Apologies for all the images I missed getting a snapshot!     Til next time.   By the Way.... I have sooo many  requests in hand for next year, I'm negotiating a second session date.  'Should have some news next week...  Patt

Deadlines are SOOO Motivating!

Needed to get this quilted post haste.  The top is a simple disappearing 9 patch with 30s fabrics.    I'm starting to do some quilting for hire.... both custom and edge to edge.

I love this quilting pattern ( called "Steamed Up") ... It feels like fluffy clouds and begs for someone to cuddle up under it.