Celebrating I met all my goals on time this month!!

This has been a very busy few weeks, I didn't have time to post 

because I had several deadlines to meet.  

I made two polymer clay heirloom bags for my friend Jen.  

The babies are her adorable twin boys; John and Andrew.
The purses are gifts for her mother and mother-in-law this month.  

I took photos for a tutorilal on my polymer clay page 

that show all the steps to completion I used in making these bags.
I will let you know when I get that posted.

The making of the bags is quite time consuming but definitely worth the effort.  

She gave me the photo which I then printed on fabric.
I strip the fabric off these purses and paint glue onto the carboard base.
Then I glue the picture and cover both sides with textured clay, mica powders for the sheen... 

I add favorite flowers for each mother, Chrysanthemums and Tulips.  

I chose red to compliment the Santa hats.
The purse is assembled in stages and baked several times.
I leave the back side plain. 

The other deadline was my local guild's quilt show.
The Desert Quilter's of Nevada have a huge quilt show every year.  

I turned in my quilts and garment on time. 

 I finished a garment I began in 2007 in a class with Rachel Clark;
a wonderful quilt designer who makes primarily garments, gorgeous coats, vests.....
do go see for yourself. 

I am so thrilled to have finally finished it. 

We learned how to fit our pattern to ourselves,
an extremely valuable skill
and how to alter patterns: one example- add a flare. 

She also shared lots of tips and tricks for different piecing techniques
like these curved flying geese.  

We learned how to draft them and then paper piece them. 

I loved that technique so I used it to flatter my figure with the curves on the sides of the vest.  

I love batiks so I used batik fabric as a foundation and applied all my piecework to that-
an excellent choice since this has been handled and stored for 5 years.
Batik does not fray and holds it's shape better than other cotton fabrics.

The piecing was assembled and then free motion stitched to the Batik base.  

There is no batting involved so that I can wear it more often.
 (remember I live in the Desert) 

I took Rachel's advice as she helped me to choose my colors 

and she was so right about limiting my favorite color, which is the turquoise blues.  

They really pop against all those warm honey, brown and red tones. 

That advice also helped me to not go overboard with the beaded embellishments as well.
 I was thrilled to find out this weekend at the Show
that I took First Place in the garment category!

I have two quilts that were entered into two different art quilt categories. 

 "The Angel Gabriel at the Lake of Compassion"
This one has a Third Place Ribbon in the Art Quilt- Original Design Category!

and 

"The Door to My Imagination".
has First Place in the Art Quilts- Framed Category. 

Both of these quilts were quilted and then enhanced with paints and permanent markers. 

I used Shiva Oil Paint Sticks to paint after I free motion stitched my designs on muslin. 

I love this technique, just need to have good weather in order to avoid breathing the fumes. 

I sketched the doors on parchment paper, pinned it to a muslin quilt sandwich (mmm) LOL

 and outlined the important details.

 Then I spent a very, very, very ( did I say Very?)
 long time filling in all the sections with very small quilting patterns.

The wood on the doors is the tiniest free motion stitching I have ever done.  

I overdid it on purpose so that the doors would be stiff and stand up. 

  I also participated in my favorite part of the Quilt Show- The Fashion Show this year.
I will share more about that next week.  I need to take pictures of the items I wore.
It was great fun and I hope to do it again.
I was so proud of my fellow art quilters who also got ribbons in the show.
Our fearless Circle leader Deb had a first place in the photo transfer category,
we talked another member of our group, Jean, into entering
the wonderful musical wedding quilt she made for her son (a musician) and his wife
into the show and she got a First Place Ribbon too!!
My good friend Ricky got a Second Place Ribbon for her fabulous thread painted Raven.
Sandy and Mary, my fabulous doll making pals took several ribbons in the doll categories.
So many talented and fun friends- I am truly grateful to have them in my life.
I am going to see if I can get their permission so you can see their work too.
If you don't have creative friends like this check your local library for groups in your area.
When I moved to Las Vegas, someplace I never ever dreamed I would live,
I knew no one. I found a pamphlet at the local library for this quilt guild and
noticed there was an Art Qult Circle.
From the very first meeting I attended I felt like I had finally found people like me.
People who had an insatiable craving to create beauty.
The unique thing about our circle is that we not only have quilters,
but many other types of artists,
polymer clay, fine silver jewelers,
painters, people who knit and crochet, doll artists....
we welcome them all as it is so inspiring to see each other's work.
I hope you have or will find a home such as this too!
Have a wonderful week.
Heather

Does Anyone Know where this month went?

WHAT it's Saturday?

Oh my, January is over and I barely even knew it was here.  

Whew!!

Life just moves too fast for me sometimes.

I didn't post last week, well 

because I didn't get to take any pictures due to "crappy weather" 

and 

I just didn't feel like posting without pictures. 

Today I took a wonderful silk painting class through my quilt guild: The Desert Quilters of Nevada 

with a wonderful teacher-

 Linda Schmidt who makes fabulous art quilts and wearables. 

 It was fun and the colors are so vibrant!! 

But when I got home it was already dark so - - -

no pictures...  

I will hopefully get some taken this week. 

What I need to accomplish that - Will the whole world please 

S - - - L - - - O - - - W    D - - - O - -  -W - - - N ! ! ! ? ? ?

(Close your eyes and imagine my voice two octaves lower recorded in very slow motion)

I am working on the dreaded taxes for my Aquariart Business.  

Queen of procrastination 

I have the whole entire year to catch up on- 

I bought Quickbooks in July but even with phone help for 2 months 

it is so darned (I will not share my potty mouth version) complex 

I decided not to use it for last year, 

hopefully I will learn it and use it for 2012. 

I had a job interview friday and may be going back to work full time within the next 2 weeks- YIKES!!!

I don't even have good clothes to wear to work anymore. 

I am both excited and scared to death!! 

More about that later.

My oldest daughter's birthday is Monday and her gift has been back ordered- Grrrrrr!

My birthday is Saturday and then there is the Super Bowl 

with our fabulous Patriot's attending on Sunday!! 

I haven't done a challenge for Art Beads in 3 months, 

I haven't uploaded pictures to Flickr since October! 

I haven't read all my favorite blogs 

and have missed two posts this month 

BUT

I have been completing work for our annual Quilt Show here in Vegas which happens in March. 

Again, I will hopefully find time to take some pictures.  

So, this is my lengthy apology for no luscious pictures you can drool over this week.  

Hope you all are having a little easier time with time management and weather. 

A little Fiber Fun

I have a whole part of my life wrapped around fiber that I don't always share here 

due to all the art bead and polymer clay challenges I have been participating in lately. 

I teach crochet classes at Gail Knits here in town. 

She has a fabulous selection of gorgeous yarns and 

I love to see all the ones Gail gets in that are new to the market.   

This morning I finished a scarf  using two brand new yarns from Trendsetter Yarns:  

Flamenco (the ruffly green) and Minestrone(the gold, brown beige multi textured one).  

Here is my lovely daughter Jessie modeling it. 

This is an extra long crocheted scarf.  

I will be listing patterns in my Etsy Shop- Aquariart this fall 

for all the designs I have created for my classes. 

If you would like to be notified leave a comment below-

I will contact you when they are listed. 

Here is this month's challenge piece for my Art Quilt ect. Circle.

We had to use a shoebox to create something. 

The first thing you see is the top which is a small quilt 

I free motion stitched and then painted

of water dripping and rippling. 

This one inspired my to do a larger water quilt which I have started using the same technique.

I love how the paints bring out the liines in the quilting. 

Next you notice there is a quote around the side and front of the box:

"If there is magic on this planet then it is contained in water."

It's all about water.
Zentangled waves, bubbles... 

The bottom and back of the box - Zentangles all over! 

My very relaxed bathing lady.  Her legs flip out of the box and hang over .

She is free motion stitched and then painted with Shiva Oil Sticks.

Don't ask me where I get these ideas, I really don't know sometimes.
I apologize for the photos- I didn't take them early enough in the day so there are lots of shadows.

Okay now back to Bead Stuff-
I have to go raid my stash and put together a wonderful set of beads for my Bead Soup Partner -Beth Bricker.
You can find out more about her on her blog here.
This is a wonderful party for jewelry designers hosted by Lori Anderson at Pretty Things.
Check back for more about that and
the Big Bead Soup Blog Hop Reveal which will be Sept 17th!

Girl's Weekend!!

Just a quick post I am leaving for Ontario, California this morning to go see my art quilt "Casting Dreams" at the Road to California Quilt Show. I will have lots of pictures next week so you can finally see it!!  My great friend Barbara and I will drive there, hoping to stop by the Quilt Visions -"No Boundaries" Exhibit at the Oceanside Museum of Art too. Two nights and the Doubletree and lots of fun!! My husband's only request is that I come home with some lottery tickets!! 

My dog Bandit is looking forward to a boy's weekend with Dad.  

I am sure I will be all fired up with inspiration when I get home Sunday.  My sewing machine is having a tune up while I am gone so I can finish up my projects for our local Desert Quilters of Nevada Quilt Show in March.  More about that later. 

AND

The Bead Soup Party begins next week too with partial reveals of the soup stash I will send my partner!! So much to look forward to this month and next.  Have a great weekend everyone!!

Selling in a Winter Wonderland

I won't be walking in the snow too much because 

the Mt Charleston Etsy Artisans Arts and Craft Show is tomorrow,  

the 21st from 10 am to 4 pm and there is a 50% chance of snow.  

According to our fearless mountain resident member and show organizer 

we will probably only get 1". 

but it will be so festive and great way to remind everyone to do their Holiday shopping up there.  

I am very excited, only slept 4 hours last night and still buzzed for two reasons. 

The First:

I made a gazillion really cute holiday earrings with bright colored jingle bells, tiny presents and little bulbs. They are really cute and if I have any left after tomorrow I will take some photos and show you all. 

The second and most amazing reason I am completely high on endorphins

 is that my art quilt- "Casting Dreams"- 

HUGE (for me 6' by 6') 1 and 1/2 year quilt project 

based on my fond childhood memories of the Dr. Seuss Story, "McElliguts Pool"

was accepted into the quilt show at 

ROAD TO CALIFORNIA!!!!!!!!!! 

I am beside myself with excitement.  

I have been dragging it around trying to make deadlines for a year now.

It travelled with me to visit my sister at Redondo Beach, 

where I madly hand stitched with pliers 

to get through some very heavy layers 

at night after everyone else went to bed.

why? you say

because I had to get my big fish on it after Cori Allender, 

my long arm quilter completed her fantastic quilting

and of course I hadn't checked the calendar carefully 

and it was due for our local quilt show the day I was flying home.

PS I had a night flight too. 

They let me sneak it in first thing the next morning...SHshhhhh don't tell.   

So now I have to go to the Road2Ca show 

(Really I needed an excuse)

 and my best buddy and fellow crafter, 

 Barbara down the street wants to go too.  Girls Trip!! Totally wonderful!! 

Today was a really, really good day!!  

As soon as I am allowed I will post pictures. 

I can't publish any photos until the show is over.  

(Sorry) 

For now you can try to find a copy at the local library

read the story and imagine what I did. 

Hint:  there is a really lovely fish towards the end

that has really long flowing fins and tail pieces.

In my imagination it was so much more ornate. 

I purchased a used copy of the Book 

about 1 year after I started the quilt 

and was shocked at how simple the drawing was 

never the less it really inspired me.  

Viva Dr. Seuss.  

Now if I can stop dancing and smiling til' my cheeks hurt 

I need to go to bed and sleep.  

Have to leave for the Mountain at 6:30 am.   

I am going to dream about the thousands of smiles and giggles my quilt will create

at Road2Ca and anywhere else it gets to travel to. 

I live to create beauty and laughter and share it!!

Sweet Dreams!!

Aquariart and friends at the Hoffman Quilt Challenge Exhibit

 The Hoffman Challenge exhibit went really well. 

My friend Deb took some photos- 

Here I am in my booth

My fingerless gloves were a big hit, some crocheted hats, scarves and bags and  

many of my orphaned polymer clay pieces went to new homes- Yay!! more storage space.

 During the slow moments discussions and networking with the other exhibitors 

made all the time spent there well worth it!! 

This was the last day of the four day event and I was really tired- woke up at 3:30 am that morning.

The plus of doing the 3 days was a full day to set up and leaving it set up over night.

Note my black PVC pipe back drop designed by my ingenious husband.  

It is half empty because I sold 4 of my art quilts!!

I was so fortunate to be neighbors with my doll maker friends Diane Zammito and Sandy Leal, 

LSDesigns, who sell hand dyed everything and 

scrumptious mixed media goodies of all kinds for fiberholics.

You have to see a few of their dolls:

Yes those are some of my spray painted poppy heads from WA. 

This is a mosquito doll, no face and fabulouso wings!!

I love this tree doll. Sandy's work is incredible!

An equally wonderful creations by Diane.

She is selling patterns and kits for this caterpillar doll.

Viva Alice in Wonderland!

 With all these goodies right next door it is amazing that I resisted temptation, 

 at least until the last day when I just had to have some dyed lace and silk velvet. 

Good news no calories it's eye candy!! 

Bet you wish you were there.