Challenge # 76-Home..... and Chocolate!!

Wow!  Here it is only Tuesday and I am posting this week's challenge!!!  So not like me!!  I suspect there are some of you out there that must sit by your computers in the wee hours of the morning on Mondays...waiting for the Diva to post!!  More power to you!!!!  I am afraid my wee hour devotions are only for catching spectacular sunrises, but computer skills will have to wait for that early morning cuppa' coffee!!

Anyway, this week the Diva designated the Zentangle challenge to be "Home"...Canada is celebrating Canada Day July 1st and we in the United States celebrate our "birthday day" on July 4th, thus the title for the tile this week! And I think it is cool that this is Challenge #76 as our "birth" year is 1776!!  Very appropriate!

For my challenge tile, I chose the focus to be a star with multitudes of stripes...both have always been predominate figures in my country's history...the flag has 50 stars for fifty states with thirteen stripes for the original states; the state in which I live...Texas...is known as the Lone Star State and the flag is a star and bars or stripes..many other states use stars and stripes in their flags...the Stars and Stripes  is a military news source which has been in publications since World War II.  And I could go on but........Here is my Challenge:

Challenge # 76-Home

Yesterday was my monthly meeting of my art group, the Creative Crones.  Our 12 x 12 challenge this month came from Kay...and it was to create a mini quilt with this theme:

"It doesn't matter what the question is, the answer is Chocolate!"  And the optional technique to use was to create an optical illusion!  So here are a few of the interpretations that were brought to the meeting!

My "Chocolate"..can you see my optical illusion?

A close up of my "engraved monogram"!

Chocolate by Bethany

And the question is??? by Rhonda (a UFO)

And Kay's Chocolate...also a bit of an optical illusion!!!

To add to the merriment...we all brought chocolate to share..even those who didn't get their blocks done brought chocolate!!!  Yummy!!

Our challenge for next month is " I Heard It Through the Grapevine"...perhaps wine to sample is in order???

Cotton Robin website-reveal!!

A couple of days ago I posted a wee bit of the Round Robin challenge I had been participating in...if you go to this link, you can see all the quilts....their original block and the finished quilt...Cotton Robin.  As a reminder, here is my finished quilt which was waiting for me in the mail when we got home!

My quilt returned to me

Zentangle Challenge # 75

Having been out of town for a few weeks, I have fallen 'way behind on the Diva's challenges!  I want to fill in the ones I have missed but until then....here is the latest for this week:

Challenge # 75-Tanglation Nation: Cadent

The Diva gave the challenge...Cadent.  Here are the instructions on how to create this fun tangle.

Cotton Robins

The Round Robin (AKA Cotton Robin)....that I had joined several months ago is finally completed.  There were fifteen of us from all over the world...We created a 8"-9" block which we sent to  Floribunda who set up a schedule for us to receive, add to, and mail on...until we got our own block back..completed...quilting and binding finished!  Julie just posted on the Cotton Robin blog that the quilts have all reached their homes and she will be posting pictures of all of them! (see the blog on my side bar.)

Meanwhile....I want to show you what I was working on and how beautifully my little block came to be...from a cocoon to a butterfly!!!

The first block I received in the mail...I added one border

After I added a border.

The next block...I added a second border...I forgot to take a
picture before I started to add..the vertical polka dots.

And after I added the second border.

The third block/completed quilt

I quilted, added the binding, and embellishments.  The original
creator had a center block with a dragonfly on it...because I had
quilted over it, I decided to make her a three dimensional one!

My little block which I mailed out.

And my little block returned to me ...transformed!!!

This was really a fun challenge....all those involved did wonderfully on each quilt block that they received!  I am anxious to see all of them completed on the Cotton Robin blog!

...and More of North Getaway!

We are on our way home now...stopping to visit a few relatives in Missouri..then back to Texas!  It was very nice and cool when we left Door County, Wisconsin...but are heading into hot weather now.

Door County is a very interesting, entertaining place.  We stayed in Ephraim, WI...one of the little towns up and down the Green Bay coastline of the peninsula...Lake Michigan is on the East side...the  "Quiet side of the Peninsula"! The county is abound with orchards, primarily cherry, and fishing/boating interests....old barns, antiques, art and water everywhere!

Quilt block on an old log barn

A really crooked road going to the North part of Door County
(be sure to enlarge to get the whole effect!)

Green Bay from an overlook on the road to the North part of Door.

One of the high lights for us was a visit to the most delightful art gallery...Fine Line Design Gallery...in Ephraim, WI.  The building itself is a work of art and inside is loaded with some of the finest creations of all genres...wood, glass, paintings, sculptures, furniture, fiber arts, jewelry...and the grounds are filled with fantastic "yard art"!

Sculptures on the grounds of Fine  Line Design Gallery

 One artist whose work I just fell in love with is Martha Fieber.



This is an example from her website...her work is so intricate...this is created by fabric, thread, ribbons, and more.  Check out her website to see more of her beautiful work and read about her technique!

And another high light of Door County are the Fish Boils!  Our kids were there last summer and told us that to go to a fish boil is a must...it is a tradition of Door County..very fun to see and even better to eat!! The cooks boil up potatoes, onions, and whitefish in a cauldron outside...then to "cleanse the water"...they throw kerosene on the fire which causes it to flair up, and the water to boil over..thus washing all the excess oil from the fish out before serving!  Then...with bread and slaw...the feast begins...ending with the traditional cherry pie!!!  And either cold beer or lemonade to wash it all down!

Lake Michigan Whitefish...ready to boil!

Adding the kerosene!

Long Time Not to Blog!

We have been on the road for over a week now and have about a week more before we head home.  We have been having a very relaxing get away...much needed for both of us!!

Right now we are in Door County, Wisconsin....after the kids talked up about their vacation here, we thought we had better give it a try....especially the fish boil which the area is known for!!!

After visiting family in Missouri and Illinois, we headed up to Michigan for a few days; a return to Traverse City area...such beautiful land and lake areas!!  We stayed in Interlochen at a B & B..."Lake N Pines Lodge"....very nice, great view of the little lake they are on, and terrific breakfasts by the man of the house.

Holland, Michigan..on the way to Traverse Bay...I bought a
blank wooden shoe to try to to a ZIA on!!

A view of Lake Michigan from an over look on the way to Traverse City!

Lake N Pines Lodge from the lakeside

Sunset on Lake Dubonnet at lodge

Traverse City has many neat areas....great orchards, fishing areas on the Bay...and views of Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan from Pyramid Point...quite a hike to the top!!

Fishtown...near Leeland on Traverse Bay...quaint area which
has been left like early days of commercial fishing...great food!!

Barn up the peninsula with a Quilt Square painted on the end.

Then we went on over to Sault Ste Marie to watch the boats go through the locks...we had done that last year and felt we were close enough we should see it again!

Large cargo ship going through the locks..close to 1000 feet in length..one of the
largest to go through!

And on across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan...to Bayfield, Wisconsin on Lake Superior. We really lucked out on this stay..we were at Winfield Inn..right on the Lake..just beautiful.  We liked it so much we decided to stay an extra night!

The view from our porch, outside out room.

Some of the gardens at Winfield Inn.

We had such relaxing time there....the only draw back on the whole trip is we have really been over eating!!!  Dick kind of needed to as he had lost so much weight from his surgery and treatments....but I do not need to gain any!!!!

I am really behind on quilting and posting and my challenges so will have to work on all that better when we get home!!  In the mean time...still seeing some great sights and eating some great food!!!

Graduation 2012

Actually my granddaughter's high school graduation is tomorrow night, but we just got home from a family get together to celebrate as the graduation night will be a little hectic!  And  I did give her the t-shirt quilt tonight....her dad said, that needs to be kept special...I said...no...I want her to use it...I want to see it in four years come home in rags...that she will have pictures to see what it looks like!!!!

Front of t-shirt quilt

Back of t-shirt quilt (can you guess where she is going to college?)

I didn't get my 15 minute- challenge posted today, but I can say that I did have at least 15 minutes every day of sewing/ sketching completed!!  I also got my Cotton Robin mailed off today and will post it when I hear that everyone has received theirs.  We have been requested to not show until that time!

And my other daughter is experiencing some wonderful sites in England right now...am anxious to see her and hear all about her trip...I think she was doing Stonehenge tonight!

Challenge # 71-Pea-nuckle

Challenge # 71 Pea-nuckle

Just under the wire!!  I finished Pea-nuckle while watching television this evening!  I didn't think I would get it finished in time to post today...the deadline for the weekly challenge, but I was able to multi task!!  Pea-nuckle seen below, is from the archives of the original website for Zentangles.  I didn't think I was going to like it at first, but it is pretty fun to do....I don't care for my total look on this tile....'way too much stuff!!  But I did use my "new" technique of choosing patterns that start with the same letter as the challenge tangle!  I used: Pea-nuckle, Plaid, Pane, Puf, Pas, and Paradox.  These can all be found on tanglepatterns.com.... a site I have referenced many times before!  Great site by Linda Farmer.

Maybe if I start simplifying my tiles I won't always be at crunch time for posting!!!

Dare # 6

Dare # 6

It is time to post the Dare Challenge from Erin at Bright Owl again.  I really enjoy these because the design is already created and it is just a fill in the spaces!  It goes very quickly for me.

Summer has come to Texas...95 degrees today...I am very glad I finished my t-shirt quilt.  It was getting a little bulky to be quilting when the weather is hot!  I even have the binding on it...just need to make a label for it and a card for my granddaughter's graduation.

I have also gotten my Cotton Robin quilt quilted....just need to bind it and do some embellishments.

15-Minute Challenge

I have spent most of this week working on my granddaughter's t-shirt quilt for her high school graduation...the only thing I haven't finished is the binding and that goes on tomorrow!  I don't want to post a picture of it yet because she hasn't seen it. Graduation is next week and I will post then.

And yesterday, my studioQ bunch met for our May meeting.  We met a week earlier than usual because the last Monday of the month (our usual meeting time) is also Memorial Day.  We only had five members able to make the meeting, but still had a great time as usual.  We are challenging ourselves each month with a 12 x 12 block, and this month our theme was "In the Yard of Life, Be the Pink Flamingo".  Here are a few examples of what we did:

By Bethany who came up with the theme this time

My 12 x 12..I am going to do beading on it with the cabachon in the center.

Kay's 12 x 12...the only one of us who actually got hers finished!

And Kay, our hostess for the meeting, also showed us real neat fusible method to create a positive/negative design.

Kay's demo

In the upper left corner are two little quilts Kay had done with this technique.  And on the table is the beginning of her demo.  Next post I will hope to be able to show you a completed block that I have done.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival 2012

Thanks to all who voted for my quilt in the Quilt Gallery contest!  I was not the one with the most votes, which is OK...the quilts that did win were really gorgeous...I will just have to continue to drool over Vicki Welsh's handdyes....or maybe break down and actually BUY some for myself!

Now I am putting a quilt in a virtual quilt show....it is on Amy's Creative Side blog...again, there are just oodles of really beautiful quilts!!  The one I am entering is:

Ra, the Sun God

This is one of my latest quilts...I will be entering it in my guild show in the Fall.  It has a lot of beading on it...some techniques I learned from a class I took by Larkin Van Horn.

Back of Ra...using Judy Perez's "facing" technique

A close up of the beading and stitching

When you click on the link to the quilt show, you will need to scroll down quite a bit to see all the quilts...there are almost 600 in the show....I am 575 or something like that...'way down there!!!

Dare Zendala #5 and A Contest to Vote for...

Zendala Dare # 5

The other "zentangle" challenge I have taken up from Erin at "Bright Owl" is a fun little quicky.  Erin provides the "Mandala" design which can then be printed off in  a couple of different sizes and shapes.  This week, I had such fun with "Squid" on the Diva's challenge that I decided to do the whole Zendala Dare # 5 with that pattern.

And I have entered a contest...Quilting Bloggers offers a theme a week with some pretty cool prizes.  This week Vicki Welsh is offering some of her handdyed fabrics which I just drool over every time I visit her blog.  So if  all of you would like to help me win...go to Quilting Bloggers and vote for my quilt!!!! The voting takes place all this weekend starting today.  This is the quilt I have entered.

Aurora Bourealis-Earth, Wind and Fire

I had also entered this quilt in our guild challenge last year for using recycled fabrics.
There are a lot of pretty quilts in the contest so if you choose someone else's to vote for, I will certainly understand!!!  Thanks in advance for those who are supporting me!

Challenge # 70-Sepia

This week the Diva challenged the zentanglers to use color in our tiles.  Because so many haven't used any color, she suggested doing part of the zentangle with a Sepia tone...I always have trouble choosing which zentangle patterns to use so this time, I decided to use patterns beginning with "S" for sepia. There are so many patterns out there...(click on the "tangle patterns" badge that I have on the side)  I need help in making a decision!  It worked so well I may have to use this technique again!!!

Challenge # 70-Sepia

The tangles I used are Sonnenband, Striping, and Squid.  Sonnenband is from Simone Bischoff who is in Germany and means Sun Bands in English, and clicking on either of the other two patterns will take you to the same artist, Sandy Bartholemew...two different blogs with the instructions on how to draw these.

15 Minute Challenge

I have been messing some new software I got for Christmas..."Pixelmaster".  It is a pretty neat program but got quite a bit of stuff in it!   I think I could use a really good instructor...not just the manual...but I am going to try to muddle my way through so bear with me while I experiment.

The first thing I did was to try to come up with a neat way to do a background for my 15 Minute Challenge list.  Here goes:

I am working on the transparency of the background and I see I need a little more work!

I haven't posted with the "15 Minute Challenge" before but I think it will be a good challenge...just to maybe help keep me focused!!!  I did notice, now that I have already posted my list, I forgot to put the time on my last day...I probably worked three hours yesterday on quilting and sketching....the T-shirt quilt is getting quite bulky so I can only work for a limited time before my shoulders get weary!...that's when I turn to sketching!!

Challenge # 69-Groovy

Challenge # 69-Groovy

Here it is...Saturday night and I just finished this zentangle.  I did mislabel it though...I put Challenge # 68 and, after looking at the Diva's site again, I realized it should read "69"!  Wow!  She has really done a lot of challenges!!  The idea for this pattern..Groovy...came from Eden.  Periodically the Diva will choose a name for the zentangle of the week....this past week the design was created the talented Eden Hunt  and here is how she created it.

This was a very fun tangle to do...it will be one I will use more often.

And because I missed getting the Diva's last weeks' challenge posted, I am going to post mine again!

Challenge # 68-Strircles and Hybrid

Now, on to work on my T-shirt quilt for the grand....and must also get my "Cotton Robin" completed.  I received the completed mini last week and now must quilt, bind and get it mailed off.  Those participating in this challenge have asked to not post pictures until everyone has had an opportunity to get their original mini back...completed!

Two New Zentangles....Kind of...

Dare #4 with a hint of Mexico

My first "zentangle" is for the mandala challenge that Erin has created.  This week she posted this design to fill and suggested that we use something influenced by the ocean or Mexico as she was embarking on a cruise to that area.  So my Mandala is composed of some Mexican colors...ristras, the colors of the flag of Mexico, etc.

For those not familiar with Mexican peppers, these are ristras....dried peppers.  They can be purchased all over the Southwest and Mexico...used for decoration and for cooking.

Challenge # 67-Strircles & Hybrid

And my other zentangle is for last week's challenge by the Diva.  I am a little late in getting it done so it may not get posted on her website.  I am a little pressed for time this week as I am trying to get my granddaughter's t-shirt quilt finished for her high school graduation....Her last band concert..forever...was tonight!  Hard to believe that baby is getting so grown up!!!

A New Zentangle Challenge

Well I've done it again!!  I have entered two challenges!!!  One is an old one for me...the "15 minute challenge" and the new one is "A Zentangle Dare!".  Erin designs a Mandala then posts it weekly on Friday.  With some challenges she gives a specific topic (see # 4) and in others the topic/tangles are creators' choice.  This is the third one she has done and I am going to try to post it, but I may have missed the window as this is Friday and she may have closed out #3 (my first one)!

I like these challenges as they are something I can do in the evening or take with me where ever.  Whereas, sewing or beading creates a whole new set of problems...having to take so much with me and be in really good light to work on a project!

So here goes:

and a question...when I  placed the "15 minute challenge" logo on my blog...it is too large for what I want.  Can anyone tell me how to make it smaller??  Thanks in advance!