Nonstop Begonias

These flowers have always been some of my favorites to look at, but I have never had much luck keeping them alive. They seem very finicky about water - easily drowned, easily parched. They require too much babysitting for my taste; I need a sturdy, self-sufficient petunia or Gerber daisy. J.R., however, bought me two hanging basket of the Dreaded Begonias for Mothers Day. Why in the world would you buy THOSE for ME? I asked him. His answer: They're pretty. I was pretty sure they wouldn't be alive when I got home from my week at Arrowmont, but here is proof. They look great. I had a weird dream in which they turned from red to orange.


Here are four more of my daily art quilts. I recently had a "discussion" with a person who works in another medium about these quilts. He was sure they were too small to be real quilts. He thinks it won't be a quilt unless I sew them altogether. Is there a size requirement that nobody told me? My definition is three layers, stitched or fastened together in some fashion. The one that says 19 was made the week of our 19th anniversary. The lower right hand corner features a Sublimely Stitched poodle.

About Arrowmont:
This was my sixth visit as a student to this heavenly place. Cheryl and I took another printmaking class, this time with Diane Fine.
For some reason, I did not take a single photo this time around, but Cheryl did, so scoot on over there to check out some images. One of the best thing about Arrowmont is getting to meet incredible artists from all over the place who are making amazing work with conviction and passion, but are not well-known in the mainstream of everyday culture. How is it that I know who Jessica Simpson is dating - BTW , what has Ashlee done to Pete Wentz? He used to be such a cute little punk. Now he looks like a housecat -and have never heard of Michael Mocho or Jennifer Angus?

Want to see a preview of a supergood book coming out this fall? Check this out and use the arrow at the top to flip thru a few pages. http://interweave.richfx.com/catalog_interweave/MixedMania/index.aspx

I made this purse yesterday. I saw some reverse applique on Rice's blog from the Alabama Stitch Book - I took a peek at the book on B&N on Sunday and it looks good, I may have to buy it - anyhoo, I wanted to give myself a little tutorial on reverse applique, so I made this. Why would I make something this big and involved with my beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabrics for a stinkin' self-imposed tutorial? I seem to have lost the concept of a rough draft. I want to use my precious studio to make real things, not to make practice things. Using fabric I love and don't have much of is also a great motivator to produce quality. I made a pattern, cut out the pieces, made the reverse applique panels, laundered them to get them deconstructing and them assembled the bag. It is quilted and fully lined. It has a magnetic closure.

Fabric keeps calling to me. I really love the design piece of making - having an idea, drafting a pattern, working thru all the steps in my head and on paper and then making turn out right, well-made, neat and strong. I needed to learn reverse applique for an upcoming project that my break a little ground for me. I am still in the thinking and drawing part of it, but I'll keep you posted.

The problem with having a successful day of making yesterday, is that I want to make something else today instead of clean my house. I was sweeping the patio this morning and discovered a dead bird.