The Machine Quilting Unlimited April 2013 E-News is showing the cover of the May/June issue which features my “Prairie Fire” quilt and my article. This issue will be available  in late April.

I have resisted getting involved with social media, because I feel like I am stressed to keep up with everything as it is! But Studio Art Quilts Assoc. has a Pinterest page for the SAQA Benefit Auction and they have posted my donation, “Northern Cardinal” along with others there. And IQA has posted “Who, Me?” on their Facebook page about “Celebrate Spring”. When I looked last week there were over 600 hits! People love puppies!! Celebrate Spring debuts in Cincinnati April 11-13.

Last night was First Friday at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery and the presentation for awards for the judged show that is up right now, “My Earth, My Art”. This is predominately paintings, a few photography works and my quilt art. One of my entries, “Bignonia” won the second place cash award!

It’s a great show, if you are in the area be sure and check it out before the end of May. My “Colorado Kids” is also there on display.

Also in the area this weekend is the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild Quilt show at the Toyota dealership on Hwy 59 (Iowa St) in Lawrence, KS. It’s always a great show and three of my pieces will be there, “Merchants House”, “Mon Grand Pere” and “What’s Up at the 4-H Fair?”.

I will be there late Sunday to see the show and pick up my things.

Empty Spools at Asilomar has posted the teachers for the 2014 workshops, including ME in the first session; not sure when it is open for enrollment, as the current 2013 offerings are going on now.

I finally finished the quilting on the dogs quilt – oh, dear – I really do need a name for it! I still need to block, trim and bind it though. I am looking forward to starting the next one!!

Saturday I got back to the sewing, tweaking what was already sewn as these past two weeks of just looking at it made me see some places that could be improved. Also sewed a few of the section seams. This morning’s e-mail brought a couple more leads on the fabric search so perhaps I need to wait a bit longer before cutting background!

Yesterday afternoon a friend and I went to see the musical Parade, a show I had never heard of, and it was VERY good! So no sewing yesterday.

Probably not today, either, as I need to prepare two quits for shipping – “Colorado Kids” to AQS, Lancaster and “Who, Me?” to IQA for Celebrate Spring. Last week I sent “Foxglove Fairy” to Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest.

We have a crew of workers here installing new Pella windows so today  looks like a good time to go to town, anyway!

These Mountain Goats were on a faraway distant slope. Very difficult to see with the naked eye and hard to focus on so I just pointed where I thought they were and hoped for the best. It was hard to tell what was goats and what was rocks or patches of snow. Cropping the photo brought them in closer, but it is a bit fuzzy.

Same with these Mountain Sheep! Now we can see the curly horns.

These goats were at a different location, GoatLick, where the goats come to lick the rocks, I suppose for the minerals they contain. Here we were able to get much closer, but it was a steep and slippery trail to get there! This rock face is nearly vertical and they navigate it with ease. Amazing!

This Crow? Raven? came right up to the car looking for a handout I guess.

We saw this Loon family in a roadside pond, quite unconcerned at our presence.

The handsome Daddy Loon stayed between us and his family and treated us to several choruses of his loony laughter. Or maybe he was saying “Don’t come any closer”.

Mama Loon meandered nearby with her babies alternately swimming and riding on her back.

Great news! “Colorado Kids” has been accepted to be shown at International Quilt Festival’s “Celebrate Spring” in Cincinnati in April. I had forgotten that I hadn’t completed the hand sewing of the binding, so I did that yesterday and it’s ready to go!

OK, so I got busy and added a border to the bottom of Colorado Kids and now it is big enough to enter into Celebrate Spring!

I actually think it looks better now as the proportions are better and it is more grounded. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!!! Added bonus – now it’s finish date is 2011 giving me an extra year to show it!

Nothing for AQS this year; that’s not a very good omen!

Today’s the deadline for AQS and I discovered that “The Merchant’s House” is still away with “Tactile Architecture”, not due to return til summertime so I have nothing that falls within the size and finish date for Paducah. Too bad I didn’t get photos of “Colorado Kids”!

Yesterday I sewed quite a few of the previously cut pieces in the fire quilt and cut a few more.  The water in the middle will not be cut until later when I can see how the reflections will go. Today I will try to finish the sky.

Last evening was the People’s Choice Awards for the Inspirations exhibit and the pair, “Playground” photograph by Tammy Patterson and my “Colorado Kids” won First Place! The staff of the Classic Bean also voted for their favorite and we were honored to receive that as well!! Click on Mt Goats tag below to see them. We already have plans to collaborate for next year’s exhibit in spite of the fact that one of the other photographers suggested I might like to just bow out. I don’t think so.

Yesterday we had high speed satellite internet service installed and it is so much faster than the old dial-up.  I thought it would save me lots of time, but I don’t know!  I am finding so much more to look at that I may spend MORE, rather than less time on-line!!

Some of you followed along with the making of this piece (click on MT Goats in the side bar) and now here it is in the exhibit for which it was made.

I snapped this photo yesterday when I had lunch at the Classic Bean in Topeka with Mary before going to see “Morning Glory” at the theater. This exhibit is called “Inspirations” and it is art inspired by photography, mostly paintings but there is one other fiber piece included. Each pair is hung together for display. The wall in real life doesn’t seem that red, more of an unobtrusive burgundy and the hanging system is with black metal hooks that slip into the slat wall, so I had to come up with a wider stick to fill the sleeve on the back of the quilt so that the hook would not show. I settled on a piece of baseboard molding that was quite thin and 3.5 inches wide, wide enough to keep the hook hidden and it hangs very nicely, a perfect solution for that situation and easily replaced with normal thin lathe for later. The number is for People’s Choice voting.

“Colorado Kids” is 37 X 41″ and this exhibit runs through to the end of December.

In just two days I will be leaving for Houston for International Quilt Market! It’s been a busy week getting everything ready to load into the car. I didn’t go to Houston last year because I was in Atlanta teaching, so it seems like forever since I was there. I will pick up Rose in Wichita and we will have another excellent adventure!

The weather is definitely beginning to feel like fall, so yesterday afternoon I re-potted the plants that over winter inside and got them moved into the studio. It’s hard to find room for them all!

I tried to update my website but ran into some trouble getting it to accept text in places – I don’t know why that happens sometimes but I will try again if I can find the time. One thing that I did discover is that I never did get a finished photo of “Colorado Kids” after it was quilted and bound! And now it is gone to be in the exhibit that it was made for. “Inspirations”, art inspired by photographs. “Colorado Kids” was inspired by a photo by Tammy Patterson that she calls “Playground”, I believe. It’s an amazing photo and I was really anxious to do it in fabric. You can click on Mt Goats in the side bar to see in progress shots of the making of it. And if you are in the vicinity do stop by the Classic Bean in Fairlawn Plaza,Topeka to see the whole show. It will be up the months of Nov and Dec and it will be wonderful!

Two quilts made it safely home last week, “Spring Encounter” from AQS Des Moines with it’s gorgeous blue First Place ribbon and “Burlingame Fire” from PIQF with a lovely pink Judge’s Choice ribbon! It’s been a good year in spite of not getting into Houston’s judged show this year. I will still have two things there in special exhibits.

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.