Grieving with Gratitude

I bought the pattern "Dogs with Sweaters" a couple of years ago.  I bought it to make a gift for a friend in Key West.  Dachshunds are very popular there and this friend owns 2! On New Year's Eve day, there's a parade down Duval St of dachshunds and their owners.  Some are dressed in costumes and some are au naturelle.  They invite all dogs to be an honorary dachshund for the day.

It starts at noon  and it's a short parade due to the shortness of their legs (LOL)!

I was so surprised to see so many doxies with such different looks.

After being spectators for a couple of years, Bailey became an honorary one and we marched in the parade, in a very appropriate costume.

If you want t read more, I wrote an entire blog post about it HERE.

The original pattern by Elizabeth Hartman is named Dogs in Sweaters. 

Since I was making it for a resident of Key West, I dressed the dog in a tropical shirt. The dilemma was the direction of the print.  Logical vs eye pleasing?

I chose eye pleasing.

With glasses or without?

 And of course Bailey had to get in on the action.  I call this photo "Dog on Dog".

I'm heading down to Key West in April and I  can't wait to gift it.

I should be in Key West now, but couldn't bear to go alone.  We actually made the difficult decision to release our rental hold on our place back in October, because the trip would have been too difficult and we didn't want to be so far from Don's doctors, and what if he worsened while we there? It certainly turned out to be the right decision. 
This April trip was planned for a while. Don wanted me to go, because he couldn't fly. We had major work done to our place.  We had never seen it, so the plan was for me to go down in April, when it wasn't rented, to check it out.  Back then, I invited my DIL to come with me.  Now I'm so relieved that she is coming with Henry and my son, because I am so afraid to go.  All the wonderful memories from sitting on our porch to courtyard dinners to all the restaurants and art classes, riding my bike and the sunshine.  It was a special way to spend the Winter.  I am so grateful.

We Have A Winner and My Key West Home

I have received many inquiries about our home in Key West and I appreciate every body's concern. There have been bits of news coming out of the island, but there is no cell service  (nor water or power) and information is scarce.  It appears that Key West did not suffer the devastation that some of the other keys experienced.

From NOAA  we have been able to see satellite imagery of our courtyard.  It looks like the roofs are in tact.  That's good news.  Now we are anxious to hear if there has been any water damage.  I imagine it will be several more days or maybe a week, before someone actually checks our place.  

Key West has been the inspiration for much of my fiber art.

I am trying to keep myself busy while waiting for news.

On to happier news.  The giveaway for my Island Batik blog hop is over.  

And the winner is:

Sylvia Jackson

Congrats Sylvia.  The stack of batiks will be on the way to your fabric stash as soon as I get your address.  Many people commented and it was so fun to hear your back to school excitement.  By far, most of us looked forward to new clothes and that beautiful, big box of crayons!  

Thanks to all those that entered,   

Make Your Own Postcards

There are so many apps available that can be used to transform your photos into fun pix or into drawings suitable for using as a pattern to make a quilt. Each month, in my newsletter, I try to share an app that I have found to be useful or just plain fun. I am far from a computer guru, so I only can choose ones that work on my iPhone or iPad. For other platforms you'll have to experiment like I do.

This morning I was searching for a monthly app and came across PicsArt. It's free. And fun!

Here's a photo I took in a Key West this winter. (Don't you love the color of the sky?)

After you download the app and open it, click on the pink +, then Edit, allow access to your photos and you're on you way. After choosing a photo, my favorite transformation tool is "magic". Here's Rainbow.

And I can add text.

Wouldn't that make a great postcard? I imported it into Vistaprint, a great place for printing, and it was the perfect size for a postcard. You can't beat the cost of $10.00 for 50.

Or how about Midnight?

I also played around with my quilt, Funkytown. (It's a Curvalicious quilt and I'm currently working on the pattern.)

Here's Rainbow

Using the Effects menu, I tried Black & white. This would be useful for a value study.

I really enjoy transforming my photos into mini works of art. If you'd like to see the different apps that I play with each month, sign up for my free newsletter, HERE.

And remember, all art isn't serious, just have some fun!

 

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Do Something Good

 

Here's my sweet little Bailey. She doesn't think she's a dog, probably because of the way that I spoil her. She is the best companion and is always by my side, especially here in Key West. There are very few places that I can't take her. There are no dogs allowed in the Post Office, and thanks to many of you I have had to make a lot of trips there. She's not allowed in the grocery store, but I don't go there very often. That's my husband's domain. And she's not allowed in the Dollar Store. I was asked to leave when I went shopping there. Most other places, dogs are welcome including most restaurants with outdoor seating. At Home Depot, the sales people walk around with dog biscuits in their aprons.

But there are lots of dogs and cats that aren't as lucky as Bailey and are living in shelters. As quilters, it's wonderful that we can use our talents and heart to create items to help others. My quilt guild, Calico Cutters, as well as many others make quilts for Veterans and donate children's quilts to local women's shelters. It's so satisfying to help others doing something that we love.

As an Island Batik Ambassador, a February project was to create Kennel Quilts, or pet mats, for animal shelters in conjunction with The Quilt Pattern Magazine and Petfinder. They measure 12" x18".

This is a project that has been sponsored by lots of our favorite companies including Aurifil, Bernina, Benartex as well as Island Batik. Some local shelters would be happy to have the small quilts or they can be sent to Petfinders or specific places in need.

I chose to make simple Kennel quilts to show off the beautiful Island Batik fabric. They don't take long to make and there are guidelines and free patterns on The Quilt Pattern Magazine website. There's even tips for the most economical way to ship them. I sent mine to the SPCA in Louisiana, as they were listed as a special needs. If you want to join in, click on this link for directions. I know I plan on making more as soon as I finish the quilt show circuit and return to PA.

As I finish these Kennel quilts, I am getting ready to leave Key West. It has been a very productive 2 months with wonderful weather and lots of visits by family and friends. The time has flown by. We are heading North and will be itinerant vendors for 3 weeks. We've loaded up the car and there's just enough room for clothes, quilts and fabric!

Our first stop is Quiltcon in Savannah.

Will you be there? Stop by my booth #443 to see my newest Curvalicious quilt, Funkytown and get a free keychain and tattoo!

And to see the debut of my Mini Mosic Kits.

For my monthly newsletter video, I'll be sharing my favorite quilts from Quiltcon. I am amazed by how these quilters think outside of the box. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, here's the link: http://eepurl.com/bx1BbH

After Quiltcon, I'll be visiting All Star Quilters Guild in Jacksonville, Daytona Beach for the AQS Quilt Show and then on to Atlanta where I will be vending and teaching 3 classes at the Original Sewing and Quilt Show. My Mini Mosaic class is already full!

If you are visiting any of the shows, stop by and say hi. It should be quite an adventure for Don, zbaikey and me. I'm hoping that Winter will be gone by the time we arrive home.

 

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Funkytown

I have been working on this quilt for a few months. I call it "Funkytown". It's a Curvalicious design. It's so different than any other quilt I have created using Curvalicious. It's bight and whimsical and it makes me smile. The print fabrics are from an upcoming line of fabric by Tula Pink, called Tabby Road. If you look closely you can see catfood cans and cats in the prints. I'm not a big cat lover, but the colors and the graphic qualities of this line really caught my eye. It pairs so well with the solids. I bought a far quarter stack at Quilt Market. The fabric will be available soon and I've seen that some shops on line are taking pre-orders.

I finished the top before I left for Key West and sent it off to Till We Quilt Again, aka Helen Ernst, to be quilted. She did an amazing job.

When she mailed it back to me, I realized that the fabric I brought with me for binding wasn't going to work.I ended up ordering a Tula Pink fabric from a different line, called Chipper, for the binding. Everything takes longer to arrive here. We call it the end of the road and it truly is the end of Rte 1 that starts in Maine and goes all the way down the East Coast.

I finished binding it right after my son and DIL arrived. Since Key West is as colorful and exciting as my quilt, my partners in crime and I decided to have fun and photograph it at lots of locations. So enjoy some views of Key West and Funkytown.

Funkytown will be in my booth at Quiltcon that starts Feb 23rd, in Savannah, Booth #443. Please stop by and visit this well traveled quilt.

A pattern will be available soon. Sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know.

 

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Painting With Rick

I just finished my January "intercession" going to Painting Bootcamp with Rick Worth. He is an iconic Key West character, who has a unique philosophy of painting. I am so happy I got to know him. Although his paintings are all over the island and his Painting Bootcamp classes are filled, he is so unpretentious and kind and sweet and goofy too. I do love goofy. He moved to Key West 30 years ago to become a painter, and he has become more than that.

For those of you that missed my initial post about the class at The Studios of Key West, I'll fill you in a bit. Everything is provided for you - canvas, paint and brushes. He uses, and we used, high gloss house paint - red, yellow, blue, black and white. His painting vocabulary includes words like juicy and the ugly layer.

The photo above is on the side of a bar, not far from our place. I pass it often. It's called Wilhelmina Crossing the 7 Mile Bridg, a take off of Washington Crossing The Delaware. The original painting dates from 2012. He just refurbished it, because all of his paintings include a life time guarantee! In his update he included his dog, who he recently lost.

A friend of mine bought a house that had one of his outdoor murals along the fence. I wish you could see the scale of it. I'm guessing it's 8 feet tall.

They subsequently bought the house next door and decided it needed its own mural that included their sail boat. They really enjoyed watching him paint. What really impresses me about his paintings nd the way he taught us was the way that he adds lighter paint to form shadows. It makes all the differnce.

The most amazing painting of his that I've seen is the one he did for the theater at The Studios of Key West. It encompasses the highlights of this wonderful place, including Hemingway.

He even tips his hat to another local self-taught artist, Mario Sanchez, who died in 2005, at the age of 97. I saw an exhibit of his paintings a few years ago and fell in love with them.

So now we come to the paintings I did. Sometimes people can be great artists and not very good teachers. I have to say, this is NOT the case. Rick is a wonderful and encouraging teacher and my paintings are a testament to that. His weekly class was a highlight of my week. For 2 1/2 hours, I immersed myself in learning about his 3 levels of painting. And I mean I immersed myself, always coming home with paint all over my arm. There was no prescribed syllabus. We never knew what was going to be the topic of our painting for the week.

Week #1

Week #2

Week #3

Week #4

Week #5

It was nice to step out of my comfort zone. The class was a bit stressful at times, but definitely worth the time and the risk. Do you ever step out of your coma fort zone?

 

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