random friday finds: hands to work part 2

See Part 1 of this post here.

My mother has been my 'stitch buddy' for most of my life...and my "best girlfriend" for all of my adult life. (She knew better than to try to be my friend while I was growing up; then she was simply Mom.) 

Here is a random sampling of Mom's quilt artistry. These few examples of her handiwork tell the story of a woman who creates with needle and thread for the pure joy of it...and for the love of her family and community.

Mom has won several ribbons

at the Boulder County Fair

over the years

including Best of Show and Viewer's Choice.

This is one of the quilts

she made for each of her seven grandchildren.

***

Mom also made a baby quilt for each grandchild.

I "documented" ours in

the girls' scrapbooks

a few years ago.

Here is Kelly's:

(quilt made in 1989)

...and Erin's

(quilt made in 1991)

Mom submitted the photo of herself with wee Erin

to Quilters Newsletter

and "got published"!

***

Many years ago

Mom helped make this quilt

with her friends on the 

Lakewood Arts Council

commemorating the city's 25th anniversary.

She was instrumental in all phases of its creation:

organization, design, and construction.

It is hand appliquéd and hand quilted.

The quilt is displayed

in the lobby of

Lakewood City Hall.

***

Mom and I have shared our love of stitchery

over the years.

We were both long time members

of the

Columbine Quilt Guild

and

Colorado Quilting Council

Here we are making baby quilts

at a

Charity Sew-In

in 2000.

***

Mom also made a quilt

for each of her four children.

This Grandmother's Fan

is mine.

Mom machine pieced it

and then had it hand quilted.

Each and every quilt

has been documented.

Lillian likes to nap here.

(she is the only one allowed

to sit on a quilt in this house)

***

Hands to work,

hearts to God.

Shaker proverb

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

Random 5 Friday

Stay tuned: there's gonna be a Part 3 really soon...

friday finds: albuquerque part 2

Last week I shared some images of Albuquerque that I had 'found' in my photo archives. I love this part of the country for its pre-historic culture as well. I have been fascinated, haunted and inspired by the archeological treasures of the American Southwest for years.

It started over four decades ago, on a family vacation to Mesa Verde National Park...more on that in a future post. For now it is enough to enjoy the rock art I found here five years ago.

Even though it was still fairly early in the morning I could feel the heat of the sun as I hiked the  Rinconada Canyon Trail. There were only a few other visitors, so I pretty much had the place to myself. This is definitely not the place to be dragging disinterested family members...did I mention how hot it was?

Several years ago I bought a wonderful book, A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest. It is probably one of the most-used reference books in my Art History library. I have this book too... Imagine how excited I was to see up close and in person so many of the 'famous' petroglyphs I had studied for years in those books. Like visiting the VanGogh museum when I was in Amsterdam. Well, almost.

Deer, snakes, badgers, birds, stars, moons and suns abound, as well as some amazing anthropomorphic and zoomorphic characters. Part of the appeal is its enigmatic quality: we think we have some idea what these images are all about...but maybe not. Was is merely 'prehistoric graffiti'...or something more significant?

I incorporated petroglyphic imagery in my stitchery for many years, like this little 'quilt' I made in 1997. The primitive quality of petroglyphs suited the style of British appliqué artist Janet Bolton. I have coveted her talent for years.

Hale-Bopp Comet

***

I'm continuing my exploration of the Print module in Lightroom, as well as the image enhancing features, which in this case really clarified the petroglyphs and unified the tones of the various rocks.

And because I can't resist experimenting with Photoshop, I wanted to see what a light touch of texture would do for the layouts. It's not readily apparent in these 'busy' images, but it did add a bit of slightly grungy punch. I used Kim's kk_promenade (Multiply 60%) and her scratchedmagic 2 (Screen 35%)

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

Weekend Walk

heron song

Every quilter - every artist, in fact - has at least a few "UFO's" in a closet somewhere. UnFinished Objects. They're those projects that, for one reason or another, never quite made it to completion. There's nothing wrong with that...it's part of the creative process.

So I've had this little UFO sitting in a box of quilting "stuff" for some 12 years. It is the last quilt I designed for my pattern company, Columbine Designs. But I never could bring myself to finish it. You see, after designing, producing, and marketing quilt patterns for about five years, I was just plain burned out.

Every once in awhile I would come across this little quilt, and briefly consider finishing it. But I could never get motivated enough to even pick up a needle and thread...

...until a few months ago. A casual dinner conversation with my brother, Greg, finally produced the motivational "fuel" needed to finish it. An avid nature lover, he was relating to me his delight in the great blue heron that graces his garden in the early morning hours. Greg insisted that this far-sighted bird would spy on him as he moved about inside his house, getting dressed for work. You don't often encounter this bird, especially in the city, so it's a real treat to see one this close.

Lightbulb moment! I suddenly remembered my little heron quilt, which now held Real Meaning and Purpose for me. And Kelly's wedding was fast approaching, with me considering what small token could sufficiently convey my gratitude to Greg and his wife, Lynn, for hosting the event in their back yard at the very pond where his beloved heron likes to visit!

Greg, there's a lot of love stitched up in this little quilt, and I am so glad it now has a home with you and Lynn, because sometimes words are not enough...

xoxo
Squid

a timeline

I have always wanted to be an artist. Since I was a little girl, making art has been vital to my existence.

It’s who I am. Who I’ve always been. I could always draw just about anything. Anything I could actually see in front of me, that is, as long as it didn’t move. I learned to draw by copying pictures...not coincidentally the way my father learned to draw as a child. By the 5th grade I was into oil painting, in addition to sewing and embroidery.

My parents strongly encouraged us kids to get a college degree, and so I got my BFA in painting at the University of Denver. It was at DU that I learned to combine my love of drawing and painting with my love of fabric.

I’ve explored many different media over the years; quilting and embroidery held my interest for over twenty years, and as I acquired skills I shared them, teaching classes and designing my own line of quilt patterns - Columbine Designs. As you can see, the patterns are still selling, even though I haven't added any new designs in over 10 years.

Then, about 12 years ago, I started to burn out. My avocation had become my vocation, and I no longer stitched or designed for the joy of it. It had become Work. I was truly in despair. I floundered for a few years, trying desperately to get my “mojo” back. In the mean time I was looking for something different to do, and somehow discovered rubber stamping and then scrapbooking.

The “paper arts” industry gradually morphed into mixed media - which, for me, is just a fancy way of saying I love to play with all sorts of materials and methods - and I followed the trend. More and more, technology opened new doors for me: with the computer came the internet, digital photography and photo editing...and now blogging.

A turning point came in 2006 when I read Ali Edwards’ groundbreaking book, Life Artist. I came to the realization that my favorite theme is, and always has been, quite simply, Everyday Life. I have always been interested in family history; my parents each worked on their own genealogy, and I have access to a treasure trove of family photos spanning over 100 years. I continue to document our lives and our family history with scrapbook pages and various mixed media projects. I still love to play with everything artsy, from fabric and paper to paint and plaster to beads and metalwork, and now photography and photo editing...and blogging.

The adventure continues...