Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

To all of my family and friends from all over the world.  

Thanks to all of you for looking at my blog and for cheering me on. 

Getting ready for Christmas is hectic, and I have been spending my time making presents, and cookie dough for our annual Cookie Day, which was held on December 7th.  500+ cookies, and most of them given away.  We had about 30 adults and 10 kids, so it was lots of fun.  John's homemade chili always wins the prize.

 

More news and art in the new year.

 

On the Road to Christmas

It has been such a busy fall.  John and I have done some travelling and I have been working on a few quilting projects. 

I spent most of the summer working on miniatures, all of which are now posted (I think!).  I plan to make a few more in the next week or two, as changeover at ArtScene is November 25th. 

I've just finished, except for a bit of hand-sewing a small wall hanging called "Starry, Starry Night".  It only about 14" x 20" and is all silver and navy.  Watch for it, as well as my three new pieces, "Evening Sail", "In the Forest" and Christmas Kitty. 

I hope to have everything posted by the end of November.

Autum Leaves

Happy Birthday to all of my family and friends who have birthdays in October.

It certainly has been a long time since my last visit to the blog.  It was an outstandingly busy summer.   Every few years I seem to get into a miniature mood, and this year was that year.  I created 11 new miniatures, some of which are on the blog, and some will only be on display at ArtScene.

"Autumn Leaves" was created in 2011 to celebrate the beauty of the fall - my favourite time of the year.  This piece is three dimensional, in that all of the leaves have been anchored by only one corner, allowing them to move freely.  It is currently on display at ArtScene Spencerville and will remain there until the end of November.

Cardinals, Cardinals and More Cardinals

"Cardinals"

Yes, you have seen this title before in my blogs posted in June 2013.

I often review my art pieces to see if they still appeal to me, and look for areas that need to be improved.   The original Cardinals never seemed quite right to me, so I enhanced it and then left it for a few months.  Still left me cold.

I decided to replace it with this piece, and re-use the name and label, as it seemed a shame to waste a perfectly good title on a shabby piece of fabric art.  I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I do.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to all my family and friends who have birthdays in August.  These are some of the kids in our family.  Older, somewhat wiser and all loved.

Can anyone identify who is whom?

Feathered Elegance



Its been a very busy week.  The painters finally came to paint the house, and all the plumbing work we planned for the summer has been done.

 

 

I've started working on my "Tall Ship" silhouette.  The silhouette will be made from an actual picture provided by Helen Mott, one of my co op artist friends.  In the meantime, visit the Miniatures Gallery to see the most recent addition. 

I'm Back...........

Hi everyone -

Well I'm back after several weeks visiting with family and recovering from a nasty cold.  My daughter and her two children were visiting and it was great fun to have them home again.  Very busy though.

John and our grandson  were able to bond and have a good time fishing and mowing the lawn.  We have a manual push mover and could that child mow.  He worked harder than John did.

We also now have a beautiful baby granddaughter and had some wonderful time with her as well.

I have not done much sewing, but did finish a beautiful table runner and am finishing some miniatures.  Here is the most recent added to the Miniatures Gallery.



Happy Birthday Canada!!

Happy Birthday Canada!!

and 

Happy Birthday to all of my family and friends who also have a birthday in July!

"Marsh Bird"

Here is the most recent addition to the Miniatures Gallery.

We have some family visiting us for the next couple of weeks, so I'll talk to all of you after July 20th. 

 Lots of things to do and see.  Enjoy July.

Aussie Blooms

I've changed the picture on my banner, just to add a bit of variety.  As you may or may not know, I am also on Facebook, and invite anyone who is interested to join me there as well.

There are a lot of pictures of the tall ships being posted on my news feed, and they have motivated me to consider making a silhouette of a tall ship.  I already have the perfect background created, now I just have to find the perfect ship. 

The Jungle Book

"The Jungle Book"

This is the newest addition to the Mini Gallery.

The original movie "The Jungle Book" featuring Sabu was made in 1942, and was one of the first movies that I saw on television when I was a child.  I loved the movie then and still watch it on video, when the mood takes me.

Watch for other miniature pieces over the next week of so.  Have a good weekend.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the men in my life, my husband and sons, nephews, brothers-in-law, and friends. They bring me joy everyday.

 

Happy Father's Day to fathers everywhere, for our lives would be (and are) greatly diminished without them.  

 

 Happy Father's Day memories to all of us whose fathers are no longer with us, except in our hearts. They are sadly missed.

 

The Flowers and Fairies of Cicely Mary Barker

Cicely Mary Barker was born in England on June 28, 1895 and is best known for her series of flower and fairy art, based on the seasons of the year.  

This fairy is part of her winter collection and is called "The Christmas Tree Fairy".  She is mounted on a piece of companion fabric that is a snapshot of a decorated Christmas tree.  She was a gift to my friend, and is decorated with 6ss Swarovski crystals.  She is not part of any of the galleries.

I still have about two  dozen of the individual fairies in my stash, and I have yet to decide how to use the rest of them.  If you are interested in fairies, I encourage you to visit her web site at www.flowerfairies.com

Cardinals

I spent the day gardening, so I have not accomplished much in the way of fabric art today. 

I've just added this to the Mini Gallery, and will start working on my other ones this week

"Spring is Coming" And Has Arrived!

Here is another of the miniatures that I have recently completed.  Next up will be "Cardinals".

Please visit the Mini Gallery for more information about "Spring is Coming".

I have several more miniatures on the design wall, including another cardinal piece and a child's fantasy garden. That one will be called "The Secret Garden".  Pictures will follow in the next couple of weeks.

Noel...And Merry Christmas to You, Too.

I'm having such a great time creating these miniatures.  Its so much fun to go through my stash of fabrics with an eye to what would make great small pieces, and finding bits and pieces that I thought I was finished with, and give them a second life.

Here is "Noel".  It has now been posted to the Mini Gallery.  Watch for "Spring is Coming" and "Cardinals".

Two New Miniatures in the Works!

I've just finished two new miniatures.  "Noel" is an outdoor Christmas scene in a small New England Town, complete with a tree in the town square.  Decorated with Swarovski crystals, of course.

"Spring is Coming"  is a winter scene with a brook and some embroidered cardinals.

Both are 8" square and are suitable for display on a table top easel.

Pictures to follow soon.

Mount Fuji

One of my past glories.  This is a panorama piece, made from a fabric panel,  and I've never seen that particular panel again.

I Am A Real Person! Its official!!

Its official, Facebook has allowed me back and told me to behave.

Unfortunately, I still have not been able to figure out exactly what I did wrong.

It's possible that it is considered improper to send thank you's to people who comment, and are not your friends.  Rudeness seems to reign sometimes.

Ah well!!  Here is one of my older fabric art pieces that I have now added to the "2010 and Earlier" gallery.

I'm working on some great miniatures of cardinals and winter scenes, so keep an eye out for them in the coming weeks.

Christmas Bouquet and other things

Hi all! It looks like the decision to turn some of my problematic, but loved, pieces into small eight inch square pieces was a good idea.  

I finished converting this piece on Wednesday, and sold it on Friday.

I'm currently in a discussion with Facebook about whether or not I am a real person, so I have not been able to post anything there for the past week.  Hopefully that will be resolved soon.

I'll keep you up to date.

Autumn and Chickadees

I've added a few new pieces to the Mini Gallery, and moved some of the really small pieces out of the regular Galleries. 

This one is entitled "Chickadees"

 

A "Mini Frame of Mind"

The Wilson Family framer built several small 8" frames for me to use, depending on my frame of mind. (No pun intended)

Well this week seems to be a mini week.  I have several small and medium pieces that I was not necessarily happy with, but liked some part of each of them very much.

So I tore the pieces apart, cut out that part of the piece that I like and re-framed and mounted the pieces on the 8"frames.  I've kept the original labels, but these pieces now fall into the mini fabric art category and I've created a gallery just for them.  

This piece is entitled "Celtic Bog"

Royal Poppies

Here is the last in my poppy series. The information on this piece is in the 2010 gallery.

I hope you enjoy the differences in each of them.

More Poppies and More Changes!

I came across Aleta Karstead's blog and really liked her set-up.  So I made some changes, again, to mine. 

 I'd love to hear what you think of the new look.

I have also posted an addition to the 2010 gallery entitled "Summer Poppy".  

My very first poppy, and I designed the pattern for this piece as well.

My 2012 Art Gallery Is Now Complete - Working on 2011

I'm getting there!  I have added the last pieces to the 2012 gallery, and I'm now working my way through the 2011 pieces.

I have also finished mounting the balance of my new piece for the June show at ArtScene Spencerville.

I can now start working on my matching wolf pieces and the "Oriental Princess", who is still on my design wall.  Here is a sneak peek of what she looks like, at least for now..

 

The Wonderful World of Fabric

I've just posted the information about my next exhibition on my home page.  Hope to see you there, if you are in the area.

Additions to the Art Galleries for 2012 and 2011

A couple of more pieces for you viewing pleasure.

Some Redesign and A Few New Additions

You know the phrase "If I knew then...".  Well after 3 weeks of working on by blog and facebook pages I have learned a few things, and most likely have lots more to learn.

The blog is now divided up into Art Galleries by year, to make reading and viewing easier.  It helps with the data entry as well.

I've added a few to 2012 and 2011.  Enjoy 

Oriental Evening
September 2011

Fire Poppies

Well, its done!!.  It was a challenge to lay out the poppies, but it did finally come together.

I have also reorganized the way the blog is now presented, so that Fire Poppies and my other new work in 2013 are in the Art Gallery for 2013.  Comments on how it is laid out are always welcome.

Amethyst Poppies

I had a chance to work on "Amethyst Poppies" yesterday and I won!! 

The piece did finally accept a border, but not without a fight, and it would only accept fabric from the floral print itself.  It actually makes the piece look delicate, almost like a transparency.

I needed to finish the background and work on the floral layout, so that the Wilson family framer can make this last frame for me.  I most likely won't need another large one until July, and I have several smaller frames already.

Like the last pale fabric I worked with, this one gave me a lot of difficulty with the layout.  I'm almost happy with it.  Here is a peek at what it is shaping up to look like.



Summer and Fall

I've added a two new pieces to the Art Gallery: "Autumn Leaves" and "Jade Garden".  I hope you enjoy readying about them.

I have also decided to note, where the information is still available, who manufactured the fabrics I use.  I don't have leftover fabric from all of them, but I'll be keeping this information in the future.

I  am busy trying to finish my second poppy piece for the June show, but it is being difficult.  It does not seem to want a border, but we shall see.  This newest piece will be called  "Amethyst Poppies", and along with "Fire Poppies" will form the basis for my two new flower designs.  Here is a peek at "Fire Poppies".

 

Family Outing in an English Country Garden?

Not really! 

I have managed to post three more pieces to the Art Gallery - Family Outing, I Love Music and English Country Garden.

Life has been way too busy and I have to start working on the two new poppy pieces that will be featured at ArtScene Spencerville in June, during the Spencerville Garden Tour.

Here is one of the recent additions to the Gallery.



The Two Boys

The two boys that I talked about last week have turned out to be a male and female wolf.  No, I did not get to look, but when you finally see them on the web site, most likely later on in June, it will be no surprise to see them as a mated pair. 

The name of the piece has now solidified into "Mated For Life".  I hope to have time to post a few more pictures to the Art Gallery today.

Fish, Flowers and Wolves, Oh my!!

I've finally been able to find a few minutes to add to the Art Gallery and Past Glories.

When I have finished loading all of my work in the gallery, I will then just add new pieces at the top of the page, but for now, works is being added to the bottom of the page.

I'm gearing up for Sunday the 5th at ArtScene, which is hosting a Fibre Fantasy event, and I am demonstrating quilting.

I'm working on two new wolf miniatures, both will be 10 inches square and feature one wolf.  The fabric has wolves all over it, but when I'm done, each piece will only have one face in the woods.  I have not quite decided on a name yet...Siblings, Two Brothers, Twins??  Not sure where this will lead.

Anyway, some pictures of todays additions.

     

Night Time Adventure

This is my latest wolf piece.  I have yet to add it to my Art Gallery, but hope to have that done by the end of today, at which time I will post it on Facebook as well.

This picture has an interesting story attached to it, that gives a little more insight into how I design my fabric art.

Symmetry

Well I have finally managed to get myself set up on Facebook, and to co-ordinate my pictures.  

When I first set everything up, it was always my plan to have everything on facebook and my blog agree, so that I would have a consistent brand.  It only took me a week to learn how to do that. 

My grandson on the east coast most likely would have been able to figure it out in 10 minutes........keeps my brain young.

My goal is still to load work of some kind each day, and the next task is to figure out how to do it only once, and share it with my facebook page.

Here is one of the Past Glories I posted on Monday.

  

Blog On!!

Well it has been an interesting day.  I have added more pictures to both the Art Gallery and Past Glories, and I have finally managed to get myself on to Facebook.  What a challenge!!!  You have to have certain permissions enabled and I did not.  It took awhile, but my techie son came to the rescue once again.

I'm in the process of giving the Wilson family framer some measurements, so I hope to have a few new pieces posted later on this month.

Here is one of the pieces I added today "Ryujin And His Dragon Hoard".  He is not as clear as I would like, but a 50k picture never will.

 

Otty Lake Road and a couple of more past glories

As I continue to add at least one new piece to the "Art Gallery" each day, as well as making additions to the "Past Glories", I realize how much each piece means to me.

There is not one single piece that does not have a story attached to it.  Some stores are longer and more complex, while some are "I just loved the fabric and had to make something out of it."

My one regret is that at the beginning of all this, I was a very lazy picture-taker, so there is actually no record of many of my past glories.  I take more care these days. "Otty Lake Road" is the newest addition to the gallery, and I have added a couple of past glories as well.

Midnight in the Bayou and Fire and Ice - Cardinals in Winter

I have added two more pictures of my fabric art to the "Art Galley".  I hope you enjoy them.

I have to say that the picture of "Midnight in the Bayou" does not do it justice, but I have tried to bring out the colours as best I could.  This is one of those things that must be seen to appreciate it.

Fire and Ice was the first large piece that I worked with, and it was a challenge.  It took about 25 hours to sew on all of the beads.

Some past favourites

As I work at updating the "Art Gallery", I also want to share some of the "Past Glories" - pieces that I enjoyed creating and have since sold.  I've added three today, and I hope you enjoy them.

Fish and Fowl

While the koi are certainly fish, I'm not sure that you can consider the peacock fowl.  I have just added these two piece to my Art Gallery, and I encourage you to go and read about them.  They will be at the bottom of the Gallery, rather than the top.

Winter Scenes

This piece of art is the one that I used for the header on my blog. Entitled January Morning ll, it is my favourite small piece.   

I added the "ll" to it, because I made it once and them reconstructed it again, to add an eagle. I found this fabric after I had completed the piece.   

To me, this piece represents a picture of a perfect winter's day.

On Display and other things!!

Everything is a learning curve, and I hope that you are enjoying the fruits of my labours.

I have added a new piece to the Art Gallery called "On Display" and I encourage you to visit the Gallery and make comments or observations.

John and I were on vacation last week in Greenville, Maine.  I'm sure that it is beautiful in the summer, but right now they are in, what the locals call "mud season".  I'm very glad the fireplace worked and that we were able to get some lobster.  Life was very good!!

 Now to more important things... would you believe that a small town, in the middle of nowhere (my apologies to the residents of Greenville, but it was), could have quilt shop, with great fabrics.  I found several, so look forward to more great wolf art, and some interesting landscapes and florals.

Best Begun, Soonest Done!!

After four months of reading and planning I have finally managed to create my blog.  I still don't know what the finished product will look like, but one has to begin somewhere.

The plan is to add all of my work, one piece at a time, to the "Art Gallery" and to share my thoughts and ideas during the planning and creation process.

Each new piece will be added to the "Home" page and will remain there, until the next piece is completed.  When I add a new piece to the Home page, I'll also create a new post, just to let everyone know that a new piece of fabric art is available for viewing.

I currently have another wolf piece finished on my design wall, just waiting for a frame, so this one should be posted in the next week or so.  The Wilson family framer is a bit behind this month.  He has a bit of spring fever, so my frames are not his first priority.  I can't understand why??