It’s been a busy week! last night was the First Friday Art Walk and the reception for my Artist of the Month Exhibit at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery. As usual, I forgot my camera and will have to rely on the pictures of others at a later date. There was a very nice turnout, though, and even some sales! Great to see old friends I haven’t seen in a while. The small Iris sold (thanks, Jill!) and quite a few of the note cards.

On Thursday we discovered a small tumor on the Komondor which was thought to be malignant and was removed Thursday night. He is quite uncomfortable, but recovering now at home.

We have had over two inches of much needed rain in the past few days, along with cooler weather so I have been able to get outside and do some work in the gardens. it has been a brutal summer for the plants, especially the new ones and I have lost that gorgeous Hot Papaya Coneflower and probably the Black Lace Elderberry.

In amongst all of that I have been quilting on the Mt Goat quilt whenever I can fit it in. It will have a LOT of quilting on it and is coming along nicely. It is slated for an exhibit in Nov and Dec, so needs to be a priority.

The 12 x 12′s are all finished and mounted on 16 x 16 stretched artists canvases painted black. I know – they look gray but that is just reflected light. The black edge is shadow. I think they came out good and since the gallery deals mostly in framed artwork, I’m hoping that this presentation will elevate these little pieces to “art”. The remainder of the exhibit will be larger pieces hung in the traditional manner.

For Wrent

Captain

Iris

Marie’s House

Don’t forget– this exhibit runs from Sept 1-17 with the Artist of the Month reception the evening of the 3rd.

If you are in the area I hope you will drop by the Topeka Art Guild Gallery to see my work which will be on display from Sept 1-17. I will be there on the 1st and the 15th from 11-2 and of course during the Friday Art walk Reception from 5-8 pm on the 3rd.

I have been super busy the last few weeks producing four 12 x 12 pieces for my Artist of the Month show in September at The Topeka Art Guild Gallery. I wanted to do six, but I waited just too long! They are all finished except for the hand sewing on the back. Well, this one is all finished.

Inspired by the wren baby photo that I took earlier this summer, combined with one of the feeding parent.

During this time period I got word that the photo deadline for new pattern Market ads was Aug 27, so over the weekend I whipped out a larger version that will become a new picture piecing patten for fall. This will finish at about 24″square like the others in the series.

Yesterday I layered and basted it and got started on the quilting, there’s no time to waste!

The tile is done (?) and I love the color and the pattern!

I’m not happy with the clean-up – there is dried grout on the tile! You can see a bit of the new wall color. The new gas range was delivered Friday and the refrigerator is back in place. It’s great to have the kitchen back! We did move the dining room table and two chairs back but have to wait on the rest til after Tues when hopefully the trim guy will be done with the crown molding and baseboards.

I’ve been doing some sewing – quilting on the “Colorado Kids” and making some small pieces for my Artist of the Month exhibit at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery in September. I NEED to be thinking about a pattern or two for fall market. There is never enough time!!

The painters came yesterday, painted the living room, dining room, kitchen and hallway and were gone in three hours!! It would have taken me at least two days. In my defense no one has ever moved all of the furniture out of MY way and removed the baseboards for ME! The color is Desert Tan which looks yellow to me, sort of a light golden shade which will lighten and brighten the space, I think. The rug and pad that I ordered arrived already and I can’t wait to unroll it and see how it will look, but must wait for the tiling to be done. That starts Monday morning. I cannot believe the amount of STUFF that we have moved, the house is in upheaval and we are living out of the studio with the refrigerator moved into the utility room and the range soon to be in the garage! The dogs are very confused. Me too.

In addition to the above spaces, we are also having the main bathroom floor tiled so today I am going to paint that room while the baseboards are out.

In between all of this, I have layered, pin basted and am in the process of quilting “Colorado Kids”. It’s coming along quite well.

Yesterday was the postmark deadline for PA National and I had nothing available to enter there this year except for “Longhorn Splashdown” which can’t go there because I have it pegged for Pacific Int this year. So there’s two shows where my work will not be on display this year, Houston, and PA. Bummer. Well actually, I will have work at Houston, just not in the contest.

I had a nice note this morning from Karey B. director of the IQF show in Houston, saying that if she had been the juror “Longhorn Splashdown” would have been in, so that was good to hear. I’ve gotten lots of nice responses including “your non-acceptance makes my non-acceptance less painful” which is one way to look at it! Glad to be of help!!

The painters are coming Friday so this will be a busy week of moving furniture and appliances, removing baseboards etc. The tilers, hopefully will start Monday. I have been busily shopping Overstock.com for an area rug for the living room and finally settled on this one which I ordered today.

I hope that I like it when it arrives – it was only one dollar to ship it here (special price) but returning it would be a different story!! It was not my first choice, but by the time I got back from CO that one was gone.  I could have spent all day tromping around Kansas City and probably not found one I liked better, so I took the plunge!

The good news is – the missing quilt, “Mon Grand Pere” is found and not a moment too soon as it has been accepted along with “Lazy Afternoon” to hang in New Visions’ “Culture and Agriculture”, a multi media exhibit in Wisconsin – their 24th annual exhibit of art with an agricultural theme. I don’t usually enter shows that are not primarily quilting except for the local art guild, but this one seemed right up my alley!

The bad news is – I have been so busy lately that I missed the deadlines for AQS Knoxville and Aullwood Audubon shows!

I had hoped to get the binding on the Longhorn quilt yesterday but it was a rare lovely day with no rain so we tackled the damage that occurred last winter to the fish pond/water garden. This involved resetting all of the rock work for about half of it and it is pretty good sized. We got a really good start and will be able to finish in another day, but not today. It’s raining. Again.

No problem, I’ll finish the binding instead!

I received notice that “The Merchant’s House” has been accepted to “Tactile Architecture” and will show at IQF- Houston in 2010, Cincinnati and Long Beach in 2011. They said “many” were entered but only 33 quilts were chosen, so I am honored to once again be a part of it!

The Orioles are back and both the male and female are enjoying the Hummingbird feeder. So far we have seen only one Hummingbird.  The Bluebirds are already feeding babies in two of the boxes and nesting in a third.  They are so pretty!This feeder, along with a sunflower seed feeder hangs by the window where my sewing machine is, so I get distracted quite a bit!

Progress is slow on the longhorn, but only the sky and water remains. Yesterday I worked all day at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery. It was a slow day so I got a LOT done on my book keeping so I don’t feel like it was lost time.  Today I need to go get a permanent so again there will not be a lot of time to sew.  It’s just one thing after another around here!!

It’s been a busy weekend, starting Friday afternoon with a trip to Lawrence to deliver quilts for the Kaw Valley Guild show. That’s over 90 miles, round trip.

Then Saturday I taught a Coneflowers workshop. I always look forward to the workshops as there are always enthusiastic students excited to learn a new technique! After that, a nice visit with a hospitalized friend before heading home to unload the workshop stuff and crash.

Sunday afternoon, back to Lawrence to see the show, shop the vendors and collect the quilts to return home. It was a lovely show with lots of interesting props reflecting quilting over the past century or so, numerous vendors where I spent more than expected and a silent auction and boutique to tempt more spending! Not to mention a wonderful array of quilts from antique to brand new. I have not been able to show there, or even attend the last few years due to my busy schedule so it was fun to be there once again. I showed “Watermelon Wine”, “Bittersweet Memories” and “Lazy Afternoon”.

Between these activities and rain showers I’ve fitted in some weeding which is getting out of hand with all of the rain lately – but the moist earth makes weeding easier so it’s a mixed blessing. As I get the weeds out I apply the Preen mulch and cross my fingers that it will help!

I hope to get started on quilting the Longhorn piece very soon and have been doing a little on-line research as to how the growth lines appear on the horns. Around and around apparently, as opposed to linear.