Smash

We had a super fun time at our taekwondo "break-a-thon" this weekend. Our tkd school is part of a district of six schools. All the students from all the schools raised money for the local humane society and for "Be The Match" bone marrow registry. The more money you raised, the more boards you got to break. Benjamin got to break 20 boards!

Here is Benjamin doing a flying side kick.
And Claire doing a flying side kick.
They are both senior brown belts and having been doing tkd for nearly two years. It's a great activity. (I didn't realize they were supposed to be wearing their uniforms for this event. Arg! Mom!) Claire's elbow strike is powerful!
Another flying side kick from Benjamin with our teacher Mr. Anderson holding the board.

As is the tradition, you get to break a board on your birthday. Well, Grandma was visiting and it happened to be her birthday, so she rocked an awesome palm heel strike. Benjamin really has a knack for board breaking. It's so fun to see him focused and successful at it! Here he is with Mr. Lacy discussing the details of various kicks.



I'm really proud of our school and my kids!

Long Skinnies All

Thank you so much for all your lovely and generous comments on my long skinny landscape. I appreciate them all so very very much. I thought you'd like to see all the quilts hanging together at the Dallas Quilt Show this past March.

On the top, another landscape by Becky Jackson. Then luscious tulips from Carol Morrissey (who does flowers like no one else!). And Tonya Littman's birds on a wire. (Isn't that hand dyed background fabric beautiful?)

I especially love this bit of lightening on Becky's quilt.
Judy Kriehn's peacock feather is a masterpiece! Barbara Lange's coffee quilt is amazing in whimsy and technical skill!
All those 3D twists unzip to reveal images of coffee cups.

And here is the last set. My landscape on the top, then Sharon Zeiner's purple bubbles and Sandy Brawner's bathing beauties.
One last shot from the quilt show... awesome shoes! That's my friend Denise in the teal and me in the lime green.

Landscape

I finished this landscape quilt quite some time ago, but only recently got a decent photo of it. Gosh... it looks so tiny here on the blog. It's actually 74x18." It's called "Over and Beyond."I created it as part of a challenge for a small art quilt group I belong to here in Dallas. The Twisted Stitchers created vertical quilts for the "large applique" category at the Dallas Quilt Show in 2007. And for 2010 we decided to make horizontal quilts.

It is very much inspired by my 12x12 quilt for the "twelve" theme which is titled "Seven Houses Five Trees." I love the color scheme, the surface design, the hand embroidery and the graphic landscape-like lines. It was fun to return to those elements.

The title refers to what we might find just over the hill or beyond the horizon. What's next? What's hidden? There are a few ampersands stitched into the background. I love the swirly graphic shape of an ampersand, plus I like the idea of combining, grouping and layering -- which the word "and" represents. You can see part of one in this detail.
There is another ampersand in this detail. Those representational cloud sections are monoprints created with bubble wrap. The blue stamp on the green hill was hand made with strips of linoleum. Of course, the yellow circles are printed with a jar.

It kind of seems like that last house is just sliding right down the hill, doesn't it? Sometimes life feels like that, I suppose. Slippery!

Festive

Last week, Claire's choir competed in a competition at the local mini-amusement park. They were so fantastic! I just loved seeing and hearing them perform two songs.

The tent where they performed was so festive. I just love all those pennants against the white tent canopy. It's a good thing they were in a covered area. It poured on and off all day. They were supposed to enjoy rides and other activities after their performance. Claire came home completely soaked and grumpy.

Hot Air Balloon Festival

This is the last of the five quilts I worked on with the fourth grade classes at my kids' school. This class chose a hot air balloon festival as a theme. It's a perfect concept for allowing each student to create their own individual piece that becomes part of the whole composition.
The kids always want to make a sketch first before they begin with the fabric. We really try to get them to think about shapes and just get straight to cutting. The kid who created this plane insisted he could not possibly just cut. Really???
I suggested it's really just triangles, right? Long skinny triangles for the wing, shorter fatter triangle for the nose, etc. Sometimes they just seem to want to be pushed back with a bit of humor. He was quite pleased with the result.

That big white bus on the bottom is a shuttle for people to ride from the parking lot. Of course.

All About Me!

I am thrilled to be the profiled artist on the Dinner at Eight blog today. Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison are curating the Beneath the Surface special exhibit for the International Quilt Festival. Each of the 38 artists answered a short list of questions which has been posted daily on their blog. It's been fascinating to read about each person. I am honored to be in their company.

Here's a detail of my quilt "Spontaneity and Stability" which will be part of the exhibit.

You can see on a tiny thumbnail of the whole quilt on the left sidebar. Or read more about the quilt here.

Exhibits

I am thrilled that "Framing Flourish" was juried into Tactile Architecture, a special exhibits of quilts inspired by architecture which will premier at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November.
You've seen this quilt before, I posted about it here. I've been to Quilt Festival in Houston twice and both times my very favorite quilts were in the smaller special exhibits. There is something very inspiring about viewing a cohesive collection in a specific theme. The quilts in the World of Beauty portion of the show (that's the larger portion of the show with various categories like Pictoral, Large Applique, Small Art, etc), are also amazing! But, I think it's hard to totally appreciate them by browsing up and down row after row of quilts.

I was in Tactile Architecture in 2008 with my quilt "Construction: Concrete and Stone."These quilts have many similar elements and techniques and were inspired by similar visual experiences. I think they both look like "me" even though they are pretty different.

Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison have also announced that the Beneath the Surface exhibit will travel to Houston after it's premier at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach. MistyFuse has agreed to sponsor the exhibit in Houston. Hooray! Mistyfuse is a great product and the company has done so much to support art quilters.

So, I'll have two quilts in Houston this year. Now, it's time to start making travel plans. Are you going to be there? I can't wait to see you!

Outer Space Part II

Two classes chose "space" as their theme this year. Of course, they are completely unique.
I especially love this space man. I think he might be a storm trooper.

I think the little green alien in the space ship with the purple spots is awesome. Bet you didn't know there was toothpaste and toothbrushes floating around in the galaxy.

This and That

Free!
While buying plants at Home Depot, I discovered a guy re-stocking paint chips. He was throwing away piles of beautiful paint chips. I asked if I could have them. "Sure, you can take every single one." Jackpot! I am so happy.
Nature!
We have been enjoying the series Life on Discovery channel so much! The photography is absolutely breathtaking and I am continually awed by the interesting creatures and behaviors found in amazing places all over the world. There are several clips on the Discovery website. It's definitely worth viewing. But, I did instantly wonder how they shot this scene. Then at the end of the program they explained that it was partially reconstructed in a studio. Hmmmm, ok. Fascinating, but not exactly "real." How amazing is the sundew? And the dragon's blood tree. Stunning.

Celebration!
Yesterday was Claire's birthday! She is such a delight. I love this picture of her... sneaky, shy, curious, beautiful, funny, patient, dedicated.
Nature Part II!
We have baby birds on our patio! Here is a close up.
And here is a wide shot. They are in a nest on top of the speaker. Mama hasn't been sitting on the nest for awhile, but hanging around the yard. Maybe she is waiting for them to venture out on their own.

Infinity and Beyond!

This one is a little "out there." Still fun, though!It's called Crazy Spacey.

Initially, the theme was outer space. But several of the kids really wanted to include their love for the Percy Jackson books (which are based on Greek mythology). So we have Zeus throwing a lightening bolt (while drinking a Diet Coke).
And we have two Poseidons holding tridents. (And another little alien creature drinking a 2 liter of Diet Coke.)There is also an apple tree and various floating fruits on the left in the full image. I used some glow-in-the-dark thread for the quilting. Pretty fun!

Candy Metropolis

Thank you so much for all the enthusiastic comments on the last "kid quilt" I shared with you. Here is another...
The class titled it Candy Metropolis. An excellent title, I think. They came up with some wonderful ideas and executed them so well. Check out the banana split boat in the chocolate river, the sweet little cupcake and the gingerbread house.
The art teacher and I really encourage the kids to do their best work, cut careful nicely formed shapes and take their time. Sometimes they do.

When one student first presented this ice cream cone for fusing, I ask her if she wanted to add any more detail. She shrugged. I suggested she clean up the edges a bit and add another scoop of ice cream. She came back with a bit more excitement. Then I prompted again about additional detail. Maybe some lines on the cone, I asked. She went back to the pile of fabric and added the light brown x's. When it was really done, she was so pleased! It is such a delicate balance between telling them exactly what to do or giving them full creative control. Not to mention, with nearly 30 kids in each class, there is a huge variety of skills and interest levels. It's an amazing learning experience for all of us.

12x12 Reveal Day!

Kristin picked "Kilauea" as her theme for the latest 12x12 ColorPlay theme. Kilauea is a volcano in Hawaii where she lives. She noted the blackness of cooled lava, red heat, and the red lehua blossom and the young uluhe fern. She defined the palette of red, orange, chartreuse, black and greys.
When I saw a huge bin of mangoes at our grocery store, I knew I had my inspiration. Read more about my quilt and see the other 11 on our blog!