Smoked Out

As you may have heard, there is a major forest fire burning where I live in Santa Barbara county. It's the longest burning fire in the history of California. So far, it's burned 215,000 acres in 1-1/2 months. It's about to cross over into Ventura county and they expect it to burn for at least another month. Their main focus is controlling what direction the fire will burn. Fortunately, no structures have been burned so far although several evacuations have been issued.

Usually the air quality is very good where I live, but that has changed because of the fire. The direction of the wind makes a huge difference on whether or not you can go out. Some days the sky has an overcast orange glow to it and it is snowing ash. Other days, it's a beautiful blue sky.

Needless to say, a lot of people are having problems breathing, myself included. I ended up getting a sinus infection and generally feeling lousy. So I've been taking a bunch of medicine and staying inside trying to get it cleared up and overall I'm beginning to feel better. I've bought a paper mask in case it gets bad again and I need to go out.

I've been finishing a couple of projects, it's about all I've had the energy for. I appreciate all the feedback you gave me about finishing my latest piece. There were some great ideas that made me think differently. I ended up stitching Sliver metallic thread into the piece and then sewing it onto a painted canvas. Here's the final version. I'm still pondering whether I should finish it with a very narrow painted wood frame.

I Survived the Presentation

My quilt presentation went pretty well. A couple of friends told me that my face was redder than my shirt and I spoke a little too fast. I'm glad it's over and I'm sure the next time will be easier.

Overall, my quilts were well received. When I presented my first finished quilt, I hear several gasps of surprise because it's way too nice for a first quilt. I think they enjoyed seeing my non-traditional quilts. Several people stayed afterwards to talk with me. One said my quilts were better than many of the speakers that we have and several asked me if I would teach a class.

At this point in my life, I don't have enough time to spend on my own artwork. I can't imagine teaching. Maybe when I retire.

Remember the turquoise wax painting. I added another layer of crayon and another wash of color. I also added some accents with Red Tsukineko Ink.

Here is the finished painting. I like it even better now. I think it has a lot more depth.And here are several of the ATC's after I cut it up. I really like the movement. I've finished these three weeks early, I don't need them till September.

Now I have to finish two quilts for a group show at the Elverhoj Museum from October - December.

Nervous and Excited

I'm a bit nervous because I'm going to talk to my guild about my quilts. It's a big guild, probably 300 members. Public speaking is not high on my list of skills. I agreed to do it because I really need to conquer this fear and what better place than in front of your friends. I'll be showing 16 quilts created between 1996 and 2007. Please, wish me luck!

I'm really excited because I signed up for a two day workshop at the end of August with Sherrill Kahn. I can't wait, it's going to be a blast!I found these paint chips at the hardware store and had to have them. I have to make another trip for the rest of the colors. I'm going to use them to make some ATC's. Way to fun!

More Shopping!

Another shopping trip with my friend Kathy, north this time. We went to several stores, asking for donations for the Coastal Quilters Guild challenge "Lights! Camera! Action!". I'm sure we spent twice as much money as we received in gift certificates!
I'm pretty sure I needed a couple of these items and some were such a good deal, I couldn't pass it up. I had a coupon for the sewing machine feet, Buy two, get one free, so I did! I bought the Open Toe Free Motion Spring Foot, Edge Stitching Foot and the Chenille Stitching Foot. I have quite the collection of feet now.

I need the corner marker tool to get the Ricky Timms binding to work right. And my hands are dying of heat exhaustion in the quilting gloves I've been using. A friend told me the Machingers gloves breathe. I'll let you know. I cannot find the Tsukineko ink locally, so had to get that too!

Here's my justification for the fabric. Black is my neutral, it makes all colors POP, and good light fabric is hard to find, so you need to buy it whenever you see it. The others had good texture!

These two are special! I love it when the fabric changes throughout the width. There are two fabrics here, the black line shows the separation. The fabric on the bottom starts as yellow and changes to purple at the other end. The fabric on the top has the different skies. Had to get these! Don't you agree?

Artist's Muse Challenge

The chapter 4 challenge from the Artist's Muse Yahoo group is finished!
The challenge was to cut 12 fabrics into irregular shapes and place them randomly onto a base with fusible web and iron. Then stencil and/or paint on the surface as desired. I followed the guidelines up to the shapes being ironed, then I took a turn.
The piece looked nice, but it was too flat for me. I decided to add some pieces of painted dryer sheets, baby wipes, recycled thread bunches and yarn. I put a layer of Solvy on top and stitched it all down. After dissolving, I decided to stitch more layers on top.

I really LOVE it, it reminds me of the ocean. But, I still wondered if it needed something else. I cut out a palm tree and placed on top. It looked good, but I decided it was beautiful by itself and could stand on its own as a piece of art. I am going to paint a canvas blue and stitch the piece on top.

Do you think I should add beads?

¡Viva La Fiesta!

August 1 - 5 is Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara. Tourists invade the city by the thousands and the whole city becomes a very large party.

There are many different activities throughout the city. Wednesday night at the mercado, we attended a free concert by Hollywood U2. Tonight is the Rodeo and tomorrow is the childrens parade and tomorrow night is the Flamenco dancers at the Courthouse.

Here is a vasquero showing his roping technique, he was really good.

Beautiful costumes can be seen throughtout the city.

One of the hundreds of beautiful horses in the parade.

The cascarones are definitely one of the Fiesta highlights. Colorful confetti is contained inside every egg. You sneak up on people and crack the egg on their head and confetti goes flying everywhere. It will take six months for the confetti to disappear d0wntown!

New Projects

It seems that summer presents many distractions. I haven't been working in my studio as often as I should be, but still have a few things in progress. It seems that I haven't been getting many comments lately either. Is anyone out there? I really enjoy hearing from you. (hint, hint)

These ATC's were made using crayon as a resist, acrylic ink, dye, marker, utee and stamps. I'm not sure what will happen to them now, but I feel like they need something else.
This piece just received its second layer of crayon. Next, I will add another wash of acrylic ink, let it dry and then iron it to remove the wax, but the pigment will remain. I'll post the results next time.A while ago, I purchased this lanyard disc at Michael's for $1.00. I found it the other day while looking for something else, and decided to give it a try. It is extremely easy to do and is a great project while watching television. I am using 2 pieces of chenille yarn in each slot which makes a very sturdy cord with a 1/2" diameter. Not quite sure what I will do with it yet, I'm thinking a handle for a handbag. Time will tell!

Art in the Mail

The last few days were great mail days! It is so nice to open the mailbox and find beautiful pieces of art instead of bills.

This postcard was a personal trade with Lynda. The texture on this piece is wonderful. It is lace, acrylic paint and treasure gold. Thank you Lynda, this piece is a treasure!

This ATC was another personal trade with SueB. It is made from Lotka paper that Sue further embellished with paint. The texture is difficult to describe, it is both smooth and bumpy at the same time. I've never seen anything quite like it. It is gorgeous, thank you Sue.
This postcard trade was through the Yahoo Surface Design Group. Norma B created this wonderful Monochromatic Color Composition. The subtle colors are beautiful with just the right amount of bright spark and movement. Thanks Norma, I love it.

Fabric Store Run

Kathy and I are the organizers of our quilt guild challenge this year. The theme is "LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! The date is quickly coming up and it's time to request donations from our fabric and quilt shops. We drove south about 60 miles to visit area shops. We received gift certificates from Baron's, Quilters Studio and Quilt Ventura and have two other shops to call back. We have also received donations from Grant House and Craft Essentials. We're off to a good start! We will be heading north in a couple of weeks.

Along the way, many wonderful fabrics screamed "BUY ME" and we did. Here is a photos of my haul today. Quite a bit considering I can't use all the fabric I have in 3 lifetimes. I'm sure I don't need to make excuses to all of you. From what I've seen, I'm not the only one! LOL

ATCs Ready to Trade

Here a some of my ATCs being traded this month. These were started using leftovers from other projects. The green base was made at the same time as my "Spring of Creativity" canvas. It sat around for a couple of weeks until I decided to paint a shirt. I screened several paints and designs onto the shirt, but only the black layer made with the wire whisk managed to make it onto the ATC paper. The design evolved on its own after that. It has texture from gesso and tissue paper and color from acrylic paints, watercolor pencils and pearl ex powder.

Reflections

I see things differently than most people; I've known this for a long time. Usually, people look around at the general scene as a whole. I can also do that, but I tend to focus in on the details. I notice the patterns in cracked concrete or the shadows on a building. Water is always a fun to look at.Here are a couple of photos I shot of reflections of boats in the harbor.

I thought they were really cool while I was looking at them, but found that by changing the shutter

speed, the image changed dramatically.

You should take some photos of reflections, it's a lot of fun and very inspiring.

My daughter is a competitive swimmer and the pool is right by the ocean. There is a lot of waiting between her swimming events. Needless to say, I've taken many harbor/ocean photos over the years.

Beautiful Postcards Received

Here are two postcards I received from the Surface Design Color Composition trade.This one is made by the incredibly talented Joanna. I love the complimentary colors she used. Visit her blog to see more of her fabulous work. This beautiful postcard is made by Jan Z. As far as I know, Jan doesn't have a blog or website. Correct me if I'm wrong Jan. I love all the different purples in this card. Jan also incorporated some purple yarn for additional texture.