Halloween Party

We had a fun little Halloween party last night!

Cookie decoration station all set up. (You'll notice that the sprinkles are actually Christmas-themed. This did not bother the kids in the least.)

Claire and her friend (in an awesome duct tape costume) enjoyed decorating.

Notice the trail of blood (heart shaped red hots).

How cute are those pretzel "ears?"

This was part of dinner for the evening. (mozzarella balls, olives, almonds, apple)

Hot dog mummy!

Chocolate milk ghosts! Which I've been making for years. See this post from 2005.

Cookies decorated by the boys...

I listened to the boys completely falling over themselves in laughter and giggles while they were decorating (and mixing up gross stuff in their drinks).

Everyone seemed to have a fun time!

Announcing...

I am thrilled to be one of the instructors for this exciting new online video workshop collection. Seriously, so very very very excited! It's going to be a truly amazing project. I know you're going to love it.

I've been friends with Alma for years. I think we did a fabric exchange way way way back in the day before blogging and Facebook. (Can you imagine?!)

Watch Alma's blog for news about the project. Soon, she'll be announcing the other instructor/artists. (I got a sneak peek. What an amazingly talented and varied bunch of women who love creating with fabric!)

She'll also be announcing info about the workshops we will be teaching. (I might sneak out some details about my workshop soon.)

Plus, coming soon will be information about registration and what is included. (Videos, pdf patterns, photo sharing, message boards, inspiration, bonuses and more!)

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I've got to get back to shooting video, taking still shots, finding some fun background music, writing up supply lists and thinking of every-single-detail I want to be able to offer as part of my workshop.

Winner!

I used a random number generator to pick a winner of Diane's dvd. It threw out number 11 -- that Loralei! Congratulations! I hope you'll share with all of us what you create with tips and ideas from Diane.

Remember: you can order the dvd through Diane's website.

Diane's Awesome DVD!

My friend Diane Doran recorded a dvd with the folks from Quilting Arts TV. I'm thrilled to be giving one away for her. Just comment on this post anytime between now and Monday, October 24. I'll pick a winner and Diane will send you a dvd!

Diane creates absolutely stunning work using digital collage. The dvd includes tons of informative and inspiring step-by-steps skills. She shares lots of Photoshop Elements tricks but also talks about color, value, contrast, printing and finishing options. You'll also get to hear her talk about some of her beautiful quilts.

You can order the dvd through Diane's website. Or if you must have it NOW NOW NOW, you can download it directly from Interweave.

I've been reading Diane's blog for years. I think she was in on the early days of the Artful Quilters Webring. When we moved to Maryland, she quickly put me in touch with some great fiber groups and other art quilters. I'm so happy to share her new work here on my blog and to get to hang out with her regularly!

Another peek!

I've been working a new project -- totally new in many ways! And yet quite familiar in other ways. I'm feeling s--t--r--e--t--c--h--e--d!

Family

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I went to Minnesota for a family wedding. It was so wonderful to spend time with my parents, my aunts and uncles, cousins and their kids and lots of other folks. Here is Claire teaching my Aunt Pat a game on the iTouch.

And here is my Uncle Dick teaching Benjamin the same card tricks he taught me when I was a kid.

Benjamin and his second cousin Jake... they had a great time together.

We took a lovely walk in a city park area that included this maze/labyrinth. The kids loved running around.

Benjamin got a kick out of decorating the brides' car!

I didn't take any photos at the wedding or the reception. I guess I was just enjoying the festivities.

I especially enjoyed spending time with my cousins Sara and Kari. When I was little, they seemed so much older than me. Now that we are all mothers and sharing the decade that is the "forties," we have lots in common and many experiences, ideas, struggles and celebrations to share.

Here we are when they came to visit us this past spring -- plus my mom and Kari's partner Mary! Happy smiles.

Peek

I've been working on a few projects that I am not ready to share on the blog yet. Here's a peek at some work with a freezer paper stencil.

My friend Cathy said I should make some thermofax screens if I'm repeating little shapes like this. Hmmm. I use a freezer paper stencil four or five times and then it's mostly worn out and I'm ready to alter the image a bit anyway. But, I can imagine possibilities.

ColorPlay Stats

At the end of the theme series, I did a statistical analysis of the techniques I used in the first 12 theme quilts. You can see it on my blog here.

I thought it would be interesting to use the same "categories" and track the results from my ColorPlay mosaic.



Original Categories
Hand embroidery: 11
Stamped Circles: 7
Sequin Waste as a stencil: 0
"Traditional binding" (meaning a separate piece of fabric somehow encasing the edge): 6
Words: (or handwriting) 5
Free motion quilting: 8
My beloved landscape compositions: 2
My beloved shrine compositions: 4ish
Beads or other three dimensional embellishments: 8
Surprisingly least used color: purple
Surprisingly most used color: yellow
Use of sheer fabrics: 5
Paint: 9

New Categories
Botanical shapes: 9
Square sequins: 5
The Arch: 8

I'm not sure if there is anything surprising here. I do like lists and statistics and comparisons, so maybe it's just for the fun of it.

Over the course of the 12x12 project (more than four years!), I have focused my personal style. So, it's expected that I would be using the same techniques and motifs in most of my work. Apparently hand embroidery is the strongest expression of my voice. I love sheer fabrics, so I am somewhat surprised that I only used them in 5 of my pieces. Though I used free motion quilting in 8 of my quilts, I don't think it offered anything really significant design-wise in very many of those pieces. That is something I would like to do better. I guess I got tired of sequin waste.

I've heard art experts suggest that you should just keep using techniques and images until they no longer inspire you. I'm sure to keep doing most of these things -- I've got lots more inspiration to follow!