Color Palette Challenge for March/Zentangle Challenge #64

Challenge # 64- Fortune Teller

I missed last week's challenge and if we were going by Laura Harm's time, I would have missed this week too!  But I have 10:40 PM here in Texas so hope I am under the wire!  Fun challenge...I always enjoy these!
AND......
I finally got my wall hanging pieced for the March Color Palette Challenge.  Here is a picture posted by Vicki Welsh for the challenge and the fabrics she chose for it.

And here are the fabrics I chose and the quilt I have pieced with the Disappearing 4-patch block.

My choice of fabrics from my stash.

March Color Palette Challenge 27" x 27"

So for the last day of the month I think I am caught up with the challenges I am doing....so time to start all over again!!!

studioQ meeting for March

     My favorite bunch of fiber artists...studioQ....met Monday at my house.  We have started a new challenge.  Because we are just smitten with the 12 X 12 gals, we decided to try a 12 x 12 challenge of our own.  Each month we will do a quote from something..a song..a poem..a book..whatever one of our member's decides on..as well as a technique and/or fabric choice.

    This month we were to do a quilt with the topic of "Counting Flowers on the Wall", including use of black and white polka dot fabric somewhere on the block and could use the technique of resist if desired.  I made a Smilebox  of our meeting with the challenges and some additional items.  It was so cool to see how everyone interpreted the challenge!

     If you have not tried Smilebox before...give it a try..it is fun to make up slide shows and photo albums!

A digital slideshow by Smilebox

Crystal Bridges

     This past weekend we had a wonderful trip to Bentonville, Arkansas to visit the Crystal Bridges Art Museum in the heart of the Ozark Mountains.  Alice Walton, who lives not too far from us here in Texas grew up there...daughter of Sam Walton of Walmart fame. She is a multi-billionaire who has a terrific interest in art...and even better, in sharing her interest with the public!  So the Museum which she was the force behind opened up last fall and immediately landed on our bucket list!  Bentonville is still the corporate offices of Walmart and it is the prettiest little town with some of the best restaurants I have ever dined in.

    The trip is about seven hours from here...we went with another couple who have an equal  interest in art and architecture as ours and none of us were a bit disappointed!! We traveled on Friday, went to the Crystal Bridges grounds by 9:30 on Saturday...the museum didn't open until 11:00 but the trails and grounds offered beautiful landscaping...natural and enhanced! So we took advantage of the time to roam around for a couple of hours.

A Stainless Steel tree..like one at the Modern in Fort Worth

Dogwoods in bloom on the trail

Redbud and dogwood in bloom

Crystal Bridges from an overlook on one of the trails.

Crystal Bridges from the front.

The Last Supper, created with 20,736 spool of thread, hung on chains...upside down.  To view the work of art right side up, there was a sphere to look through!!!!  Size: Huge!!!!

A closeup

     We were astounded by the art work that Alice has collected through the years...so many very famous artists and works...and the whole exhibit is open to the public for FREE!  The area got very crowded and congested before we left, but the whole experience was totally worth every second of it!  Only one damper took place Sunday morning about 30 minutes on the road...Two young does ran right out of the ditch and in front of us!  There was no way to avoid hitting at least one of them...it all happened so fast that we are not sure if we hit both of them or not...quite a bit of damage to the hood, grillwork, head lights and bumper. It will take quite a bit of work...and our friends have only had the SUV less than an year.

Working on Color Challenge

      These are like the fabric chosen by Vicki Welsh for the March color challenge.  I love the richness of these colors and I have been working on a pattern with these fabrics from my stash that I got from the internet called "Disappearing Block".  It is an easy block, but looks complicated....very fun to make!  There are several ways to put it together so in another post, I will show the one I chose to use.

My fabrics for the challenge

Working on the "Disappearing Block"

Step # 2 for Disappearing Block

Step #3 for Disappearing Block

     I wish I had noted who this block came from...I tried to go back and find the information but was not able to...so if anyone knows who should get the credit, please let me know....at least, know that it is not MY original design...I am just an admirer!!!

    Monday, my studioQ fiber arts group meets.  We have started a new challenge for the new year....started in February.  We are all big fans of the 12 x12 group and decided to do some of our own 12 x 12 challenges.  Our challenges will consist of a quote chosen by one of us (taking turns each month) with a twist and a technique.  The quote can be from anything...a song, poem, book, speech, etc. and the twist is also chosen by the same person....the technique will be drawn from a list which we developed last month.

For March, our challenge is "Counting Flowers on the Wall"...using black and white polka dot fabric with the technique of "Resist".  Should be fun...eager to see what everyone did!

Quilts Stolen

I just saw this item from Karen Combs on Facebook and wanted to share with the quilting committee and anyone else who might be in a position to help her.

Quilts Stolen....Please click on this link and read Karen's tragic story!!

Wearing of the Green

    And a Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!   They say that everyone is Irish on this day...Well, I can honestly say that I am!  At least half...my mom's mother (my grandmother) was as Irish as they come.  I never knew her...she died before I was born, but I remember Mom telling stories of her and her family of many sisters and brothers.  Family legend has it that my great grandparents met on the boat coming over from Ireland in the 1800's at the time of the potato famine and that the voyage was so traumatic for my  great grandmother that she lost all her hair. Another legend was that she was an Irish princess.  Now, I have read since that practically every village had a "king"....like the mayor...and that his daughters would be considered princesses.  But I prefer to dream that I am of Irish royalty!!  Just my vivid imagination at work!   

    I always loved these tales and would swell with great pride when we would sing out the Wearing of the Green in choir at school.  And "Danny Boy" always gives me goosebumps!  I love "Brigadoon" and  a touch of Bailey's in my coffee,   I do love the rich Irish literature...the lore of the fantasies of the Emerald Isle...so I will continue to don my green (sitting here now with my green t-shirt on even though I didn't leave the house or yard today) and share the following blessing with everyone.

  

Challenge #62-Paradox and Spiral

Challenge # 62-Paradox and Spirals

This was a fun challenge! I find the Paradox a little daunting...so I am not sure I am totally satisfied with my results on it...but I love doing spirals!  So here is my tile!

I have a new toy....my scanner is SOOOO slow, I decided to replace it.  But because the printer still works well, I didn't want to just junk the whole thing so I purchased a hand held scanner.  And I really like it!  It copies to an micro SD card and can be attached to my computer with a USB cord to download.  I copied this latest zentangle tile on it and I think it made a really clear picture.

In reading the reviews of the one I chose, one can take it anywhere and scan things...one example given was recipes in magazines in the doctor's office...or doing research in the library....I think it will be very handy!

Lots o' Birthdays!!

This year is the 100th birthday celebration for so many well-known things....The Girl Scouts were signed into being by Juliette Low one hundred years ago today.  The Oreo cookie is 100 years old this year...and the Titanic sunk 100 years ago next month.  I am sure there are more but these are what I have heard about in the last three days!

Girl Scouting has many fond memories for me...I was Girl Scout in the 1950's...my mom was one of my leaders.  Both my daughters were Girl Scouts in the 1970's and I was a leader...and my granddaughter was a Girl Scout in the 2000's!  That is three generations in our family.

My oldest daughter

Both of my daughters and me

When I was a kid, I went to Girl Scout camp one year...we had cabins, but no plumbing...latrines and cold showers...log cabins with no heat or air conditioning...  I was probably about 11-12 at the time.  There were four of us from my home town there together..good buddies!  Even though we were really "roughin' it", I remember we had a blast!!!  I was very nearsighted as a child...I remember looking out the cabin window very early one morning...really needing to use the latrine..I couldn't find my glasses and I could swear there was a bear right across the way, between me and the latrine!  So I got everyone in my cabin up to go with me...come to find out the "bear" was a very large pile of rocks and moss covered brush!  Boy, did I have trouble living that one down!!

As my girls grew, I was active as a leader with their troops...I was still not the real rugged type, but I was ok with taking the kids on trips with other moms.  This one time we had to take a nature training class before we could take the girls on an over night!  A good friend of mine and I were really beginning to wonder about the wisdom of our plan when the leader of the class...a real outdoorsy kind of gal...told us about the way to tell the difference between poisonous and non-poisonous snakes..by the shape of their eyes!!  Like we were going to get close enough to be able to tell what their eyes looked like!

Juliette Gordon Low

Juliette Low's birthplace in Savannah, Ga.

Several years ago my youngest daughter and I went to a quilting seminar with Jinny Beyer at Hilton Head, near Savannah.  While there, we took a tour around Savannah and saw the Low birthplace....bringing back many "scouting" memories for both of us.

And the last generation of Girl Scouts...at least to date...was my granddaughter at an awards  ceremony.

So...Happy Birthday to you, Girl Scouts of America!!  Oh....and also to Oreo cookies!!!

March is National Quilting Month

While reading some emails, I discovered that this National Quilting Month....and there is a website that has a pattern to honor National Quilting Day which is March 17...St. Pat will love that!!  The  site also has several patterns for the past four or five years that can be downloaded for free.  These patterns are sponsored by the National Quilting Association which has a pretty extensive website with all kinds of info.

We have company coming for the weekend so I have been a baking fool...cookies, brownies, coffee cake etc.  All things that can be frozen for later eating if not cleaned up by our guests!

And rain and cold weather are expected...no complaints...after our terrible drought of last summer we will never turn down rain!!  But looks like a lot of sitting around visiting rather than getting out!  Again, no complaints...we have a lot of visiting to do!!!

"Love Your Blog" Day

According to Lynn Krawczyk on her Facebook posting this morning, this is Love Your Blog Day...so I think I really should post something!  This week has been an interesting week Nature wise..

Monday when we were taking our daily walk, we saw literally hundreds of geese flying North!!!  As we are walking down our country road, we could hear "honking" and looking up, there was a huge flock heading North.  Then as they went out of sight, there were at least eight more flocks.

I didn't take this picture...thank you, visualphotos.com...but this is what they looked like. Most of them were much higher than this but one flock was almost this low!!  We could see their individual coloring and details.!

Right where we live, we often see the geese, loosing their "V" formation; then float around in circles, reform into a "V" and off again.  We think there must be air currents that they are taking a rest from beating their wings, as they will just glide around for a bit before taking off.  Weather often changes near us...storms break up; rains other areas are getting miss us entirely, etc.  Makes it interesting watching the changes.

Texas Bluebonnets from last year.

And today while walking, we saw that the fields across from us are FULL of bluebonnet leaves...hopefully that means we will have a flourishing crop to enjoy in a few more weeks!

Redbud trees South of our house 

And the redbud trees are starting to bloom...with such a mild winter, everything is blooming somewhat early!  Hope we don't have a surprise cold snap to nip all their little buds!

So Happy "Love Your Blog Day", fellow bloggers!  I love reading all of your entries!!

BOM-# six

BOM-# six, a photo by arts1plus on Flickr.

This is the sixth in the series of BOMs I am doing.  I think I am going to either make placemats or a table cloth out of the blocks when all are done.  My Fiesta Ware dishes are multicolored like this fabric and I can use some new mats!

We are having some marvelous early spring weather.  It is about time to get that hummingbird feeder going.  We have seen a couple of bluebirds checking out the house we have for them, but so far, I think the sparrows are keeping them away!  Even though bluebirds look fierce in some photographs, I think they are pretty passive until they get established somewhere and have a family to protect!  Then they get tough!!!

Challenge # 60-Cirquital and Munchins

This week the Diva's challenge involved two tangles...Cirquital and Munchin.  

  

Here are the instructions for Cirquital from Maria and Rick's website.  They are the original "creator's" of Zentangle/ZIAs.  And below are the instructions for Munchin.

If you go to the Zentangle website, you can archive any of their patterns to see how to make them.  Another wonderful website to show how to make hundreds of zentangles is from Linda Farmer.  I use her website all the time when I want a new look to any ZIA.

Challenge #59-Mardi Gras

Challenge # 59- Mardi Gras

Last Monday the Diva chose as our weekly challenge the topic of "Mardi Gras" in honor of the beginning of Lent.  So, although I am posting a little late, here is my zentangle for the week.

When I was a kid I always liked the season of Lent.  I thought Ash Wednesday was very cool....we would go to mass in the morning then go to school.  Being a Catholic in a non-Catholic community...at least being a minority...going to school with my ashes on my forehead was special. I would get a chance to look "different" and an opportunity to explain what it was all about.

Now as an adult, I still like the idea of Lent and Ash Wednesday although I look on it very differently.  I am much broader on my thinking of spirituality and all the whoop to do that goes with organized religion.  I still have great respect for the "good works" I see the Catholic church and a few others doing, but I do not care for the intolerance that I see in so many "christian" faiths including the Catholic Church.  I think I have finally found a "church" with which I can relate....the Unitarian Universalist Church.  Without getting "preachy", I recommend anyone who has had doubts about what is going on in the world today with the Religious Rights groups, etc....check out the UU.  The church I am becoming a member of is Westside UU in Fort Worth, Texas.

Color Challenge for February

These are the fabrics I have chosen to use for the February challenge.

This is the paper pieced block that I made with the February palette...12 inches square.

The Color Challenge button on my sidebar will take you to the Challenge page so you can see what it is all about!  Vicki Welsh, a talented art quilter who dyes her own fabric, is the sponser of the challenge.  Her site has a wealth of information about color theory and other artsy stuff...very interesting!

And I have given up on using photos on my computer to post on my blog..so I have set up a Picasa website account which seems much easier to use!!!

The Versatile Log Cabin

Several years ago I acquired a paper pieced pattern from someone...can't even remember who!  And when I decided to follow the Scrappy Challenge, last month being red, I chose to make up these squares...each being a 2" square and a total of 36.  While deciding which layout to use, I remembered why I love the log cabin!  It is such a versatile block...these are just a few of the layouts you can use.  I know Flavin Glover

uses the log cabin in many of her quilts. If you are not familiar with her (and who isn't) check out her website...fascinating!!!

The layout I chose..adding a black border..total size w/ border 18" square.

Now I just need to decide how to quilt it...I am a little late for the Scrappy Challenge by a couple of weeks...this month is green.  Maybe I can get green done in time for St. Pat's Day in March!!!

Challenge #58-Diamonds

Challenge #58- Diamonds

"It's Valentine's Day..

An occasion to show love.

Should be every day!"

     This week, the Diva gave us the challenge of Diamonds to bring awareness to The Four Diamond Fund.  If you click on the link, you will find the meaning of the fund...very touching cause!!  I had started my ZIA yesterday with the idea of using it for a Valentine....I had done the heart shape and the Sanibelles (last week's challenge which I really like doing) then this morning got on line to see what the Diva had cooked up for us!!  That is when I added the Diamonds.  The Diva got the subject for her challenge from Diana Hirsch who has been involved in the Four Diamonds for quite some time.

     This is the earliest I have ever posted a zentangle challenge tile, so time permitting, I may get another one in of this chosen design!!

Challenge #57-UMT -Sanibelle

Challenge #57 Sanibelle

The Diva's zentangle challenge for this week is created by Tricia Faraone and is named "Sanibelle". The feathery, leafy design is the zentangle chosen. The rest is just what happened as I doodled. And the UMT stands for Use My Tangle.
       My haiku to accompany this design is:

"Tricia's Sanibelle

An unplanned evolution.

Leaves, twigs and a nest!"

block for january

block for january, a photo by arts1plus on Flickr.

Here is one thing I finished this week....my Internet BOM...using the Moda fabric I won a couple years ago from Quilting Arts at the International Quilt Show in Houston.

It Came in the Mail!

A Book from Julie Waldmann

A couple of weeks ago, i was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Julie Waldmann who was notifying me that I was the winner of her latest giveaway. And today, this beautiful book came in the mail!  Now, I do not usually work in reproduction fabrics, but this year, my guild has chosen the theme for our annual quilt show "Memories" and the focus is on '30's fabrics.  I volunteered to be in charge of the Members Challenge Quilt so I think this book will come in very handy!!!  There is also going to be an apron challenge and this book just happens to have an apron pattern!

Although I did not do the "15 Minute Challenge" this week, I did actually get quite a bit of time to spend in my studio.  So I guess I will repost the logo for this challenge and at least post what I can, when I can....starting next week!  And I will have a zentangle challenge to post this week also..I missed last week's from the Diva.

Zentangle-HH (Harris Hospital-6th floor)

Zentangle-HH (Harris Hospital-6th floor), a photo by arts1plus on Flickr.

Last week, I spent several days in a hospital room, watching my husband improve from surgery. We are home now and he is almost back to normal. While there, I kept from going stir crazy by working on a zentangle...this is my creative representation of the hospital, 6th floor...tubes and all...by way of a ZIA!
     Another product that helped my sanity was my Kindle Fire.  I just got it for Christmas and I love it.  I'm not big on cell phones except in emergencies; and I don't have a fancy phone or plan whereby I can take pictures or instantly post on Facebook, but I discovered I can do a great deal on my Kindle if I am in an area with WiFi.  The hospital (which I imagine is pretty common any more) has a guest connection.  So I could surf, check my emails, send emails, etc....and I had a book at hand and could down load some tv shows!! What  a world we live in!!!  I love most of the technology....my mom who has been gone nearly 18 years would also have loved it all...my dad, gone fourteen years, would have hated it!!!!!

New Color Palette Challenge

The New Color Palette Challenge for February

     Vicki Welsh has a beautiful website and is the host of the monthly Color Palette Challenge.  Here are the colors for the month of February.  Aren't they luscious!!!

     I have had to kind of drop out of a couple of challenges you might remember from my side bar, but this is one that I hope to continue.  A few others that I am going to try to continue with are the Sketchbook Challenge, the Diva's zentangle challenge, the Bloggers BOM, and the Scrappy monthly color challenge.  On the last one, I had almost finished my "red" challenge scrappy, but ran out of time (or month) to publish so I  will continue to work on it as an UFO.  This month's color is "green" so maybe I can get it done during this month.  Most of these are just fun to do for me and keep me mentally and creatively challenged.  The final products will probably end up in my guild's silent auction at our annual Quilt Show.
     
      I have been keeping up with all the todo with the Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle!  My kids and I have done the Race for the Cure for about 15 years now.  I had a bit of a dilemma whether to continue this year or not, but as the Komen organization changed their stance on the withdrawal of funds to PP, my dilemma is solved and I will be joining them this spring!

     

      

I Feel Like a Winner!!!

Lucky me!!!

     I received this lovely little quilt about three weeks ago from a fellow blogger, Pat West. This generous lady randomly gives away her creations to those who follow her blog. And this time I was the lucky one!! She had emailed me to ask what were some of my favorites and then she sent this to me! If you link to her blog you will see what else she is up to...I was also lucky enough to receive a few of her snowflakes!!  I am sure they will be a beautiful accent to a future art quilt of mine!!
     Also in the past week, I have received the center block for me to add a border to from the Cotton Robin Challenge which I am doing.  I wish I could show the block because it is really neat, but the project is a secret to the original maker until they get their finished quilt back!
      And after a very rough week of hospital stays with my husband (who is now home and doing great!) I had a stellar day Sunday!!  My husband took the upward turn that got him dismissed........As I was leaving the hospital parking garage, the attendant at the toll booth waved me through, telling me that the guy in front of me had paid my fee (a Random Act of Kindness!).....and when I got home, I had an email from Floribunda Quilts that I am the winner of her book giveaway!!!  She is the person who is monitoring the Cotton Robin Challenge.

Challenge #55- Moebius Trip

Challenge #55- Moebius Trip, a photo by arts1plus on Flickr.

I didn't get this posted last week because I have been rather busy with some health issues with my husband...but we are on the road to recovery now so I am back in action.

This challenge by the Diva is Moebius Trip in honor of the Moebius Awareness Day which was January 24, I think. One of the Diva's adorable boys has Moebius Syndrome so I wanted to help her with the awareness.  This link will take you to her blog when she explains about the syndrome and how it affects her little guy...very touching!

Zentangle challenge #54-Purple Haze

Zentangle Challenge # 54-Purple Haze (and my haiku)
"The color Purple
Stands for creativity,
Royalty, magic!"
      The Diva is back...I somehow missed #53, but for Challenge # 54, the topic is using the color Purple. This is one of my favorite colors so I would like to share the color meaning with everyone by clicking on the link.

     I am still working on this Picture thing with Flickr so bare with me.  I haven't figured out how put more than one picture at a time on my blog but I'll keep plugging along!

Sketchbook Challenge Jan.2012

Sketchbook Challenge "Doodle" January, 2012

The Sketchbook Challenge "Doodle" was certainly right up my alley!!  Doodling is what I do a lot of!!

I had started this in a new sketchbook I bought myself for Christmas...I was in a doctor's office waiting for my husband to get through with some testing...and it just grew from there.  Looking forward to the next month's challenge.  Another Zentange challenge is in the works.  The Diva who challenges us, took a few weeks off but came back on line this week with a challenge..."Purple Haze"...I have it finished and will post it tomorrow.

     Today was my guild's monthly meeting... We had a huge crowd...the weather is really nice now...was 81 today!  Hard to believe it is January....this is really warm even for Texas!  Anyway, Susan Cleveland was our speaker...very entertaining and talented.  She is from Minnesota so we loved her accent and she said she loved ours!  Check out her website .....she has lots of really beautiful quilts to show us and many interesting techniques to share.  Those who took her workshop yesterday said it was one of the best they have ever had!  Sorry I missed it.

     I can't remember if I have mentioned that I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas....I LOVE it!!  I am becoming kind of APPS crazy!  Fortunately for my pocketbook, there are a lot of free ones out there.  Having the Kindle for reading is pretty nice too, but I like it every bit as much for the access to the Internet.

Protest SOPA

     I have been looking into this bill before Congress and offer this  link to anyone reading this for information on who is for and who is against the bill - S. 98:The Protect IP Act (PIPA).  I have mixed feelings, of course, because I don't want the entertainment world to get ripped off, but I don't want censoring to become a problem with internet use.  From what I have read, this bill could create censorship problems for all.  I am traditionally a fence sitter on most political issues but I decided to take a stand on this topic.

 And I was going to post my Sketchbook Challenge pic that I had posted to the Challenge Flickr group, but remembered that in protest today, I am blacking out some of my Flickr pictures!  So later on that!


   

15 Minute Challenge Report!

Last week I was able to get in sewing at least for 15 minutes almost every day:

• Finished Color Challenge Block
• Finished background for Misty Fuse
• Finished and mailed off my Round Robin quilt
• Working on my Misty Fuse quilt.
• Cleaned out my scrap bins....gave away/threw away and kept to use
• Started on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Block for January

Final Block for Color Palette Challenge

Color Challenge Block 24" x 24"

After trying a few pattens, I settled on this block from a design by Bonnie K. Browning-"Color My World". There are many ways to move the blocks around to create different patterns and this is my final decision on which to use.
     I still cannot download from my photos on my computer, but did discover that I can down load pictures off of my Flicker account.  It is a little more time consuming but at least I can show some things this way!!
     We attended our granddaughter's High School Swimmeet this morning...she, of course, did wonderfully!!!  And we got to see the grandson while he was practicing at the same pool...such talented young people!!!  All the kids....not just my grands!  A real pleasure to see them in action.
     I am working on a fusible landscape using Misty Fuse.  I am thinking of entering it in the Misty Fuse contest.  I had picked up a little flyer about the contest at their table at the Houston International Quilt Show last November.  Of course the deadline is tomorrow so I may not quite get it finished in time....Queen of the Last Minute Projects, that's Me!!!!