Alcohol Ink Fun

A girls day! Melissa, Mela, Sandra, Lauren and Carol. We all gathered post Christmas to converse (I can't divulge some of the unseemly topics!) and eat and create!

I decided even novice crafters could come away with a usable product...these alcohol ink coasters. 

Mary Lee demoed these for my artcgirlz group a bit ago. 

They are easy. 

Cheap.  .(.16 cents a tile at Home Depot.)

Fun. 

Each person had their own technique. 

Interesting. Cool. 

Melissa was my fave. She was all about the drip, not the pounce. 

I'll get pics of hers soon. 

Mela definitely had her own thing going on! I will, by hook or by crook, get mela to be my creative accomplice!

Snow has come to WNY.  I love the sound of it pelting my vintage aluminum awning right now. Cozy. 

I have learned:

1.  Rye toast + sliced hard boiled (farm) egg = delicious dinner. 

2.  It's almost 7 years since Sandra was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She's now involved in a pharma study. Grateful she is doing so well. 

3.  Sophia lost her first tooth on Christmas Eve!

4.  Mother Earth News magazine. Retirement + mag = much ado. 

Hope Tree

This little 8.5" x 11" piece was made for the Telephone Line project my Fiberista group worked on over the course of 2015. Reminiscent of the old whisper-around-the-room game. 

Each of us made a quilt to start a line. In the rotation, we each used the previous makers quilt to come up with our piece. May be the color story or subject matter or technique. Whatever works. 

It was truly creative and challenging . 

At our monthly meetings we'd all be thrilled to see what we had to work with in the coming month!

All pieces were kept in a large envelope. A sealed envelope!

The reveal was 81 quilts worth of inspiration. 

Most of us enjoyed it so much we are doing it again in 2016!

I have learned:

1.  Mela is not a girl. She's a sister. 

2.  Tiny Owl Knits.  Check out her knitting/felted patterns. Coveting. All. 

3.  Twin Peaks is being resurrected in 2017. Cool old TV show. 

4.  Netflix's Jennifer Jones, apparently a Marvel character, is very cool. 

Merry Christmas Time

Galleria Mall Santa (points for real beard)

Riley & Mela!

What you didn't see was me backing Riley up to Santa so he wouldn't cry again. 

What you don't see is mommy under the red blanket torquing her neck to look at the ceiling so her head wouldn't be in the pic. 

What was my heard, my diatribe I didn't have to unleash when we walked right up to the "workshop"....no line! 

Yep, it has been awhile. 

It had to be said. 

Since last I wrote, I've received good news that all four blood clots are gone and no clotting markers in my blood. Done with the thinner. 

Riley Michael, aka Cy,  just turned 1! He's our big little guy always smiling and very chill. 

Mela turned 2 in July. Her papa calls her the tornado! Exuberant should be her middle name. 

Sophia is 5 now and loving kindergarten. She's beautiful and makes a sweet big sis!

Cy came by the way of Mela when she couldn't say Ri-ri like all of us. Cy-Cy since and still. He answers to both!

Maddi turned 1 in July also. She's walking! Her laugh is hardy like her dads. 

Speaking of....Michael & Jenn relocated to Fort Benning GA after Michael graduated first in his class from Officer training school. Proud mom. 

They'll be coming up to Fort Drum NY next fall for 3 years. Will be great to see my granddaughter more!

Over the last 6 months I've been in a creative  process mode. Hexis aplenty made from used tea bags, hand dyed fabric, silk and vintage materials. 

I'm finally to a point that I feel like getting some projects done. 

1" hexagons for the background to this pic I took last summer in my yard. 

Do you see it? Loving. 

This is for a challenge that will exhibit the original pic with the piece. 

What I have learned: 

1.  9 weeks til I retire! 

2.  Audiobooks.com. Best way to squeeze in more books from the must 

"Read" list. 

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert up now. Good. 

3.  Dryer broke. Too much $$ to fix. Hanging laundry outside since...feels so domestic. Green. Free. 

4. Balanced gas billing will reflect my conservation!

5.  Cliffy ran away. He's not been back. I miss the bastard cat. 

Summer Time

I have been busy over the last few weeks. Maddi, Jenn and Ace were in NY for 5 weeks while Michael is at school at Fort Benning. We celebrated Maddi's 1 year birthday; Mela's 2 year birthday and Sophia's 5 year birthday, all in July!
Was able to bond with Maddison on the drive back to Fort Campbell. Her daddy face is sweet...she makes some of the same contemplative brow expression as Micheal. Her laugh is hearty and infectious! I am truly blessed with these 4 happy grand babies.

The road to recovery (4 pulmonary emboli) is still a daily strive. The fatigue is constant. I could sleep 12 hours a night! They are being good to me at work.....for the next 6 months and 3 days!

Many projects have been in the works of course. I am still making recycled tea bag hexi's. Loving them.
Have a large bit pieced of 2" hexi's in Marcia Derse fabrics...very cool.
Made 2 sundresses for Mela and Sophia to wear at their birthday party.
Made a few small art quilts for a great project one of my fiber groups is doing. A Telephone Line. We each make a quilt inspired by the last piece made so that in the end there will be a sort of design story to the line. Looking forward to the reveal in December!
Knitting a bit.
Played with paint on fabric and Prismacolor pencils as well.

I wish I could post a pic but, alas, I am still having troubles on my laptop getting to my photos.

I have learned:

1.  Dexter...show with an interesting concept; loved the characters....that finale!
2.  Project Runway is on again. Love that show. Never gets old for me.
3.  Clifford has not been home in over a month. I miss the bastard cat. I am not hopeful he will return. I think he was coyote meal.
4.  Coyotes diet consists, in part, of 45% cats.
5.  Strange poop on my property a bit ago. After investigating I found out it was Black Bear poop,
6.  Black Bears don't eat cats.

Work on "Deployment"

I am getting close to finishing Deployment. The squares are stamped with the dates and an X for all the days Michael was deployed two years ago. 

The sheer print layered over the squares is a pic of Michael in Afghanistan. 

You can see the walkie talkie antenna, then his helmet. He's in a camouflaged hut. 

I have learned:

1.  Michael is doing well at OCS. One week down. 11 to go. 

2.  Six Feet Under. Amazon Prime. Really good. 

3.  Cliffy won. He's happy going outside. Can't fight that cat every time I open the door. 

4.  Back to work tomorrow. Very fatigued still. Ugh. 

5.  Jalapeño Margarita. Mmmmmmm

3843 Pearl Street Road

The pic is not so great. Sorry. 

I made this quilt for a challenge, My Piece of the Universe. This is an aerial view of my property on Pearl Street Road. The blue mono printed fabrics are my house, garage and shed. The line of blue up top is a natural drainage steam for my town. 

The trees are the reddish hand dyed fabrics. I am fortunate that my 6 acres are filled with trees. 

Making this was fun every step of the way. I used my mono prints, rust dyed and discharged fabs. 

I will happily look at this hanging in my living room for a long time!

I am still recovering from the pulmonary embolism. The blood thinners are providing multiple contusions from simple bumps! Fatigue still an issue. Improving though. 

I have learned:

1.  Riley Michael, 6 months today, is one rock away from crawling!

2.  I sold a piece this weekend! An unfinished, but still cool piece, of Mela. 

3.  No more YouTube on Netflix. Sucks. 

4.  These woodchucks. Under my house. 

One day I'll come home to them sitting on my couch. I must address this. Ugh

My Universe & Blood Clots

I forgot to get a pic of this piece when I finished. GVQC had a challenge called " My Piece of the Universe" 

So an aerial view of my property came to my mind..very literal. 

I've use my discharged, mono printed and rust dyed fabrics. 

Machine quilting. 

Hand stitching. 

Every step of this project was fun. 

"Pearl Street Road" will be at their quilt show,along with other universes, the first weekend in June at RIT in Rochester. 

My home away from home last Monday through Thursday was Millard Fillmore hospital. Pulmonary embolism. Multiple clots in each lung. 

Two weeks ago I flew to Portland OR for an IBEW utility conference. I noticed some swelling in leg/foot and what I thought was winded breathing upon arrival. I attributed the breathing to having put on weight. Apparently I formed a clot/clots on the flight. 

I worked all week noting I had been winded much of the time. So much so that I commented to coworkers about it. 

Finally I decided to ask my RN sister about my symptoms. 

Call dr now. 

I did. I went. Was sent directly to ER. 

No clots in legs verified 

But after scan of chest they discovered I had numerous small blood clots in each lung. 

Winded was actually shortness of breath. 

Now I know. 

Blood thinners and laying low for a bit. 

I have learned:

1. Add xeralta to my list of meds with allergic reaction. 

2.  Michael made Officer Candidate School. 

Mary Lee's Tiles

At my ArtCGirlz meeting tonight Mary Lee demoed a cool alcohol ink on tile technique. Very cool. It would need a special sealer but I can see how useful this could be. She made done switch light covers for her home using this idea. 

I am pondering what mixed media project I could use this in. 

You never know what little tidbit will make you think. Thanks ML!

I have learned:

1.  10 months to retirement-real-life-living!! If only someone would get prego so the count down would mean more!!

2.  I am buying an Avante quilting machine! Used. Know this woman has taken care of it and I'm so excited! Investment for my future. 

3.  My extra weight was felt walking around Portland OR last week. Give me strength to address it. 

4.  Clifford, the cat bastard, has been sneaky. He waits for the last screen door bobble to get out. Caught him. Alerts on!

5.  Think spring is actually here in western NY. 

6.  My son, Michael, was accepted into Officer Candidate School, Army. Georgia from June til September for him. Proud. 

6" x 6" Party for ROCO

"Batty Bird"

My favorite one 

"#2 Bird"

"Uh Oh"

A bit of fun!

Mary Lowe had a ROCO-ROchester COntemporary Art Center Party at her cozy, mini art gallery home today. What an in-the-zone day of creativity for the friends that showed up. 

Together we made over 20 works to deliver for the very popular in person & online auction in June. 

My 3 pieces are collage on canvas board. Mary had a veritable Michaels craft store of materials to use. Haven't had a great day like this in a while. Good friends, good good, great art!

I have learned: 

1.  Riley, at 3 1/2 months, is laughing. Like a goose. He's a cool cat!

2.  Gas leaks + epic deep freeze = migrating gas = our guys working around the clock to keep people safe. 

3.  Gas leaks + melting snow = water in low pressure main/services = our guys working around the clock to keep people warm. 

4.  1000 Quilt Inspirations by Sandra Sider came in mail today. I see I sent a section of "Ice Crystals".  0596 on page 182. 

5.  My sister, Noni, at 52, started running with Beat Feet in Buffalo and she is loving it!  Pretty darn cool  sister!

Orange Kitty's

This evening was my ArtCGirlzs meeting. It was pure fun after a busy day at work. 

Martha lead us in this transfer exercise. 

We used Sharpie markets to color our designs then in turn used isopropyl alcohol to transfer the image from card stock to fabric. 

I wanted to see what would happen when I sponged a bit of alcohol onto yo transferred image. It left a watercolor type image. Loved!!

This would represent Clifford, Fiona and dead Chester, my three orange kitty's. 

Fun night. Thanks Martha!

Going to AQS Lancaster Friday with Tracu J. Meeting up with Mary Lee and juried quilter, Martha!! Can't wait. 

Snow is melting. Kitchen ceiling is leaking. Uh oh. 

 

I have learned:

1.  The Voice. Such a good show. Enjoying. 

2.  Mamasans in Rochester. Mmmm. 

3.  Garth killed it in Buffalo this past weekend. 

 

FB Pay It Forward Artworks

Connie made this for me as part of her Pay It Forward Art Challenge on FB. (now i must find my list of 5 friends i am to create art for!) I love it! The colors, the black background and those fabrics. It is already hanging in my kitchen and it sure looks great! Thanks Connie.
A bit ago I received another artwork from Pat Pauly from the same challenge. This postcard sized treasure is also in the kitchen on my fridge. I love it! Thanks Pat.

This weekend is our annual quilt away in Silver Lake NY. 4 days to just sew and make! All meals are cooked for us, yum. I have no idea what I will work on. There is a huge rolling suitcase I have just for the retreat that will be full of fabrics, threads and UFO's. Next year at this time I will be retired!

The cold weather had people inside scoping out Etsy this week. I had 7 sales this week! Just listed 6 new things today. Click on the Etsy banner to take a look-see.

So I locked myself out of my house today. I used and didn't return the keys hidden for such an offense. Last time I did this was summer and had no trouble breaking into my own home. Not today. All windows shut tight. With no one to furnish a key, I needed to "break" in. Tomorrow I will measure the broken glass in my door for a new piece to replace it. Ugh. I need to have a dozen keys hidden all over my property.

I have learned:

1.  YUME Asian Bistro on Veterans Dr in Batavia is spectacular! The food was stellar. The decor is awesome. Try it, you'll like it.
2.  "Chef" on Netflix. Liked much.
3.  "Bosch" an Amazon production. Liked much.
4.  Had to hire roofers to come chop very thick ice off my back roof. It started to leak up under my roof over my sink. This winter has been epic.

Judy Niemeyer PPing

 Took a class through my guild to learn the Judy Niemeyer way to paper piece her extraordinary patterns. The beauty is that all templates are included in her patterns along with the sewing pattern

Not having too read all those instructions was great. I would have opened one of her patterns said, ummm no way. 

This class helped me to understand her process. It is genius!

This is my One Leaf. I used Marcia Derse fabrics here. Like. 

Good day Saturday with my quilty friends. 

I have learned:

1.  I am not a good drawer. At all. 

2.  I have approx 200 work days left. Yay. 

3.  Thankful Michael is not deploying this month as anticipated

4.  Ready for bed. 

My Bloom

My guilds annual challenge was Show Us Your Blooms. We were to use a designated fabric in our piece. I failed! 

I started this pretty flower a month or so ago. I found a pic I had taken of this perennial in my not-so-much-a-garden. Cropped, fixed up in Photo editing app, had Julie of Red-Dog Enterprises print onto fabric, machine quilted & painted gold using an acrylic paint. 

It's not finished. I've started some hand stitching but it needs something else yet. 

The challenge fabric was a traditional tiny blue flower. After seeing all the great pieces handed in at guild this morning, I missed the boat this year! 

All those quilts will be hanging in Richmond Library, Batavia, on RossSt for the month of February starting Monday evening Feb 2nd. Do check them out if your around and vote for your favorites!

I have our Fiberistas group challenge due in a few weeks. Exchanged bags with coordinated fabrics and items that we are to incorporate in an 8 1/2" x 11" quilt. I do have a challenging lot but will make it work!  I do have ideas. 

All of my precious grand babies are growing and getting cuter by the day.  

Sophia is a young lady! So big now. Such a loving sweetheart. She's the best big sister!

Mela is a full blown zesty, happy, smart little girl! 

Madison is our porcelain doll baby with those big beautiful eyes and rosy cheeks. She on the cusp of crawling. 

Riley is still a mellow fellow! Handsome bugger. 

Gramma is the second best gig to mom. 

I have learned:

1.  I'm at an all time high. Nothing good about it. Cliche. Diet. January. 

2.  Giving probiotics a try. 

3.  An IPhone 6 costs $1800.00 in Brazil. 

4. Rapscallion is on the list of words making a comeback. Love. 

5.  How many sons dance with their moms at the wedding to "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd? Turns out not only Michael & I....the new young man at work did same with his mom. Great song. Not typical wedding fare.