Sketchbook Challenge/studioQ

As August is about to come to an end, I decided I had better get my Sketchbook Challenge entered on Flicker.  The theme this month is "Everyday Things".  Great little challenge in that the subject is SO broad...here is my entry:

Morning Ritual

Every morning, after we have had our walk and breakfast, my husband and I sit on the back porch and do crossword puzzles from the Star-Telegram.  There are two smaller puzzles on a different page than the NYTimes puzzle....we usually don't even attempt that one as we would be all day trying to finish it!!!!

And yesterday, my studioQ bunch met here at my house...great meeting as usual!  Several of the gals had wanted to do an activity on silk screen printing and although I had not done it for a few years, it is a medium that I love and had wanted to get back to again.  So this gave me an excuse to get all the stuff out and create some of my own prints!  Here are some pictures from our "Show and Tell" which we always have first before project time.

Heather's Latest...she uses a lot of her own dyed fabric.

Beth had more of her beautiful beaded spools to show.

Bethany was showing her painted fabric and some Christmas cards she made from it.

Susan has really been bitten by the Zentangle bug!

The start of our studioQ zentangle collage;  a few tiles yet to be done.

Some of or silk screen endeavors!

Challenge Quilt...Completed!!!

     Our annual guild quilt show always has a themed challenge quilt for members only.  It is an event I try to participate in as it is usually more of a nontraditional activity. This year, the theme is to create a quilt of any size, any pattern using "recyclable" materials and a "chosen" fabric.  Anyone entering was given a fat quarter of a really not very pretty fabric with the instructions that any amount of it could be used, but it had to be obviously shown on the quilt!

      My quilt is paper pieced patterns and I used all recyclable fabrics.  The main fabric I used was from old ties that had been worn by my husband when he was a working man!  I had saved MANY of his ties for years....some very colorful...very wide (think '70s).  So after taking the ties apart...body and linings...I had quite a bit of fabric.  I also used scraps left over from previous sewings...bridemaids' dresses, mother of the bride dress, Halloween costumes, formals, etc.  It was really very fun to put it all together!

"Aurora Borealis"  36" X 48"

Close up with dangling beads

Close up showing tie fabric, velveteen fabric and satins

More ties, bridesmaids' dress fabric and mom of bride fabric and others.

More tie parts, beading and formal fabric.

Embroidery, more fabric for bridesmaid dresses.

More bridesmaid fabric, beading and embroidery.

      Then I did a lot of embellishing with thread...embroidering...and beading.  The fabric was very slickish so kind of hard to work with, but I like the results, albeit NOT traditional!

     My next project is a swap quilt.  I have a new badge on my blog, "Another Little Quilt Swap 6".  You can click on it and it will take you to a very interesting blog belonging to the host of the swap.

Zentangle Challenge #36-Assunta

     This week the diva is back!  She had a well deserved vacation with her family...great pictures of the little guys!  And there is a new tangle design from Maria..."Assunta".  She had visited the Cloisters in NYC and has created several tangles from that visit.  So here, on a Tuesday....not Saturday!  is my tile and haiku!

Assunta

"Maria's tangle.

Inspired by the Cloisters.

An Ancient Church Bench."

     Now back to sitting under the fan and working on my challenge quilt!

Challenge #35-"Tile on a Tile"

     This week's challenge from the diva came from a guest artist, Margaret Bremner.  She has several really cool tiles on her website as well as many new "tangles" so be sure to check her out!  I really liked this challenge....and I think I have finally figured out how to download my pictures of tiles to look better.  The notebook I am using to draw in has a really fat spiral and now that I am about half way thru it, my tiles seemed to be kind of fuzzy when I scan them...now I am taking them out of the sketchbook after I finish and they seem to reproduce clearer.

"Tile on a Tile"

"Just like life itself,

Growing, evolving, changing.

A tile on a tile!"

      And now, I must go work on my challenge quilt for our guild show!  I am doing a lot of hand quilting and embellishments which are time consuming, but enjoyable...I can get lost in doing something like this!

Good ending to a good week!

On Sunday, we all got together at Andrea's for the August birthdays.  We met the newest member of the family...her new puppy Leo.  Leo was a lost doggie wandering around McKinney and was taken in by a friend of Andrea's who already has a couple of dogs. So Andrea decided to adopt him...he is really a sweet dog and has landed in a very nice home...she will really do him right!!!  He is probably a mix; one of Andrea's friends saw his picture on her FB and thought he looked like a Pharoah Hound  (I thought they were saying "feral" hound) !  Having never heard of this breed I had to look it up and sure
enough...there is such a breed and he really does look like a small version!!

Then yesterday, we went to the movie with both grands... a final summer event for us with them....saw "Cowboys and Aliens"!  A scifi movie with Harrison Ford and Daniel Crag so what is there not to like!  Then out to a late lunch at Cotton Patch.  Kathleen had to go to band practice but Colin came home with us and spent the night.

Today, Trinity Valley Quilter's Guild  met this morning.  We didn't have a speaker today; instead we had "Christmas in July", whereby a few of us demonstrated various activities to the rest of the members.  I had decided to show how to put together several Christmas Cards, using fabric and other techniques.  Here's a couple of the Zentangle cards I demo'd.

 

After I got home, Colin's mom had come out to get him and we all had lunch together.

So...Friday finished the week off very enjoyably!!!!  If it would only cool down, life would be perfect!!!!!!!!!

Zentangle Challenge #34-Opposites Attract

Curved string/straight tangles

Straight string/curved tangles

My Haiku to honor "Opposites Attract"

"Curved string, straight tangle

New Challenge from Christina

Straight string, curved tangle!"

     This week's challenge came from Christina aka stART, a talented lady who has hosted the diva's challenges before...very successfully, I might add!  This fun challenge was to do two things:  one tile is drawn with a curved "string" and using only straight lines for the "tangles".  The second tile is to use a string drawn with straight lines and using only curved lines for the tangles.  One could choose to do either challenge but as I did both and couldn't decide which I liked better, I am posting both!

      Now, looking forward to Monday to see what new challenges lie ahead!!  AND...we actually got RAIN today at our house...It rained lightly for several hours this morning; not nearly enough but wonderful to get!!!  It is amazing how a little cooler weather (89.6F) and a little moisture helps everyone's mood!!!!

Another Museum Day....and still HOT!

                                  Temperature at 3:30 PM.....112!!!

Hey Mom..no cavities!!  A visit to the dentist for a checkup...great teeth and all my own (with a few crowns!!)  So after our dental visit, we treated ourselves to a nice lunch at Hofbrau's and a visit to the Kimbell Art Museum...one of our favorites!

 The current exhibit, soon to be gone, is a Picasso and Braque on Cubism.  Although there is a lot of modern/abstract art I don't care for, I do think some of the Cubist had some really interesting pictures....the design and application of paint is what I find fascinating.  And of course while there, we had to visit our old favorites.  The Kimbell is in the midst of a big addition growth.  Right now I hate what they have done to the grounds, taking out many trees and green areas.  But in looking at the mock up of the final building, I think it will be okay...due to be completed in 1213...really looking forward to that!!

Last week, we had a plan to go into Fort Worth to a Quilt Show and the Kimbell.  So as we parked and walked to the FW Fine Arts Building, there was no quilt show...wrong location..(my error).  So as we were near another favorite gallery, Amon Carter, we decided to visit there and see what they had new on exhibition. The Carter specializes in only American Art and have some truly wonderful works!

Amon Carter-Museum of American Art

We throughly enjoyed the display of work on paper that was the current exhibit.  Then headed over to the Kimbell...time, about 11:30ish.  As we neared the door, we saw a lot of people standing around...and discovered the Museum didn't open until 12:00 on Fridays.  (We have done this many times before....will we never learn!!!) We didn't want to stand out in the heat and wait, so again...an opportunity for lunch!!  We headed to the Blue Mesa..our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant because we had a gift certificate (and we love it there).  Had a great lunch as usual, then discovered we had left the gift certificate at home!  And by then we were too full to enjoy art and it was still too hot outside; so we went to Central Market for some groceries and headed home for a little nap!!!  Believe it or not, we had a really fun day...even though we ended up doing practically nothing we had planned on doing!!!

Zentangle Challenge #33-Pendrills

This week's challenge comes from a new tangle from Maria and Rick of Zentangle.com .  The design is based on grape vines...a very fun tangle!!!  So here is my offering...and my haiku to go with it!

"Beauty of the Vine...

Bounty of the ripe harvest.

Nectar of the Gods!"

Now I have a request...would everyone please conjure up your best spells...charms...what ever to send us some rain!!!!  Not just right here, but nearly the whole state of Texas!!!  We are SO dry, even the fire ants have gone to ground (which is one little blessing of the drought!)