Merry March

Once again, I have over committed and blogging has fallen to the bottom of the list. Strange how one of my most therapeutic activities I don't find the time for.
I did completed my leaf for the International Fiber Collaborative 'Interdependence' tree project. I found a piece of needle felted wool I made from a recycled Goodwill jacket and cut it into a ginkgo leave. I fused it to a piece of black felt and stitched the veins and outline in metallic thread- added my name and was ready to go.

Attended the Dallas Quilt Celebration and was happy to see the work and ribbons of my friends Tonya, Lu, Deborah and Judy. This year I attended the mini auction and did I ever have a fun time! I set a limit and found a few pieces I would go over the limit for and I waited. Here comes piece number 1 and the opening bid was more than half of my limit - it was over before it started for me - damn! I will start saving now for next year.

Tonight I made rosaries at the church. We dismantled necklaces and reassembled them into beautiful rosaries. No pics - maybe next time.

Done!

Finished, Done, Finit!!! Last weekend I put the finishing touches on our Black History Month building presence displays for work. It is amazing what you can do when you don't think about being tired and you want to deliver something you feel is spectacular. The theme this year is Education = Inform, Improve, Inspire and it was my job to translate it into something visual.

This is what we came up with- 6.5 ft. tall by 2 ft. wide display cubes. The 'we' is me and Bill Wegener from Color Enlargement. Karen joined us and the three of us spent Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday building and assembling the boxes and the lobby display. Everything fell into place and come Monday morning, there were 9 display cubes strategically placed around the building. They are a big hit - our building needed something different and light to brighten it up. Here is a picture of the lobby display - the faces across the top are of our Quiet Historians. I missed a live viewing of the Super Bowl so I watched it in about 30 minutes Sunday night. Looks like it was a good game.

Before starting work on the display, I managed to complete a small piece for the 'Rock On' challenge sponsored by Quilting Arts. I've always thought the idea of stage diving was pretty cool, trusting all of those outstretched hands...

Some of my favorite photos. My thanks to the many photographers who shared their work on the web.

Saturday

Saturday, I tookDeborah Boschert's class 'Small Art Quilts: Designing a Series' sponsored by the Denton Quilt Guild. Deborah with class samples

My theme word for the day was 'balance' and this was a great way to start a day of creating.

Tonya's handiwork

Jo with all of her floss in a mound

Jo's handiwork

Becky Jackson

Mickey

Johanna

I decided to challenge myself by working in colors I normally don't use - the dreaded blues and purples. I was so uncomfortable without a red, orange, yellow or green, I finally broke down and added a piece of red and ditched one of the lighter blues. I used a bird as my common image which is another challenge because circles and squares are my comfort zone. So now I have some abstract pieces that I like more today than Saturday. They are not finished but here is a look at where I am now. I worked on the series today, along with a busines card holder the I have pre-sold to a friend.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that '24' is back with Jack Bauer and his man bag? There was even a techie duel between Chloe and an FBI techie played by Janeane Garofalo...pretty darn good although I think Chloe can kick anybody's ass. She is awesome on the keyboard, can backdoor into any computer system and has got skills with an automatic weapon. There is even a female president this year. I think '24' is ahead of it's time.

What's really on my mind - Inauguration Day! I am so very excited about tomorrow and what it means to the country. I am hopeful that we will pull together as a nation and begin to dig ourselves out of this mess we are in, knowing it will take time. I have programmed everything in my house to record the events...wonder if I can still find an Obama bobblehead,

Computer Blues

Let us all pray that my computer can be fixed...

Thank you Tonya for the beautiful birthday card.

my friends are so good to me...

BABY LOVE

Fat little fingers
Chubby little toes
Angelic little faces
The cutest baby clothes

The joys of bringing baby home
Will start on that very first day
But after about a week or so
You’ll be begging – ‘someone, please show me the way’

Yea, sure, they start off all sweet and sleepy
All knotted up in an itty bitty ball
Your hormones may even make you a bit weepy
As you envision when he first starts to crawl!

Your family – they will stay for a while
Support they will hand out in droves
Be brave when they leave – BIG SMILE
Now you have to wash all the clothes!

Oh, you will still have the fat little fingers
And the cute, chubby little baby toes
But if you don’t have a nanny named Inga
You’ll be the one wiping snot from his nose,

And the spit-up from off your shoulder,
And the poop - ‘cause the diaper was loose
But…, You will tighten the diaper and get bolder!
You will move up from milk to the juice!

You’ll marvel at all of his parts
So perfect in every single way
It’s the love that you have for your baby
That will always make for a wonderful day!

Congratulations!

Someone actually got a little choked up when I read this.
Today we hosted a baby shower for John and Ya-Fang. They are having their first child - a baby boy - in ten days. They are young and cute and unaware of the love that will move in and take over their hearts. This poem was one of my gifts to them - a special request from my friend Karen. Art comes in all forms.
.

Happy New Year!

I wish you a happy, healthy, creative 2009. Having said that, I am still not over the flu/cold/virus or whatever it is that has a hold of my head. I had to give up the NyQuil because I was waking up disoriented and it would take all day to get my head right again. I have been on vacation since Christmas Eve so that has helped.

I have a wonderful family and fantastic friends. They went to great lengths to make sure my birthday was fun. Most things did not happen as planned and I still had the best day. We had Thai food (twice),

partners in crime Karen and Camille

took a trip to IKEA - was overwhelmed by the crowd and left empty-handed and tried twice to see the new Clint Eastwood movie - Gran Torino. Who knew the movie was so popular? We toasted with Pomegrante and Apple Martinis birthday cake, ice cream and Martinis

and strolled around the Shops at Legacy. My good friend Linda had two dozen roses (beautiful, two toned roses) for me and an inspiring card with some great horoscope messages. This was the first time I went out with my daughter where we were able to toast to each other - I love it!

I worked on several pieces,

part of my empty nest

made some gelatin prints, a leopard print camera case for my daughter's new camera.

Tomorrow will be a sad day - I go back to work after a week and a half off and Camille heads back to the chilly northeast. Her leaving is the saddest - we had a great time and I am proud of the young lady she has become.

Liz and Cam - 80 degrees in January!

She is going to spend some time with her Grandma in NYC and I am comforted that she will still be with family.