Happy Halloween!

If you follow me on Facebook, you know Benjamin broke his leg on October 11 and had surgery to repair his fractured tibia on October 19. He was out of school that entire time. Today is his first day back and he's going in style!

For Halloween, he came up with the genius idea of dressing as the "lame goblin" from the board game Munchkin Quest.

We had a great time putting together this costume. I think the helmet is the best part!

I scanned the "lame goblin" card from the game, printed it on pre-treated fabric, and sewed it to the back of his tunic (red t-shirt).

How silly are those ears?! They are made from sticky-back fun foam and stuck right to his ears.

Here is Benjamin striking the pose from the game card. It's a pretty good likeness, don't you think? Except he broke the wrong leg.

Ceramic Rings on Small Art Quilts

I'm so happy to be participating in a blog challenge via Lorelei Eurto. (She's an incredibly unique and talented jewelry designer.) She sent a set of ceramic hoops created by Karen Totten to six different artists and we are all revealing our creations today.

I made this series of three fabric collage landscapes using the hoops as embellishments.

This one is called Encircled Home. It's 9x4 inches.

I really love the way the beautiful ceramic ring draws the eye to the tiny house.

The fabric is printed with bubble wrap and paint. Of course, I included hand embroidery on each piece.

This is Scattered Sunlight. Also about 9x4 inches.

Each piece in this collection includes repeated elements... the bubble wrap pattern, the yellow bars at the edge ...

and the "stars" in the sky.

Lastly, we have Rosy Ring. It's 9x5.5 inches.

Don't those French knots look fun nestled in the dainty ring?

Here you can really see the subtle color variations in the ceramic embellishment. I took these colors as inspiration for the whole series.

Check out what the other artists created with Karen's lovely hoops.

 

AliMc
Barbara Fernald

Suzette of Ellie's Bijoux

SueBeads

Linda of MustHavesJewelry
Lorelei Eurto


Thanks Lorelei and Karen!


These three little fabric collages are listed in my Etsy shop.

Another Series of Art Box csa

Another series of Art Box csa was released just today! Art Box csa is "community supported artists." It's a new way to collect original art at a great price by purchasing groups of 4 or 8 pieces.

The artists really knocked it out of the park and created some fantastic new work.... like this!

And this!

Here are a few of my pieces. I'm calling this the "Illuminated Lotus" series.

I had so much fun working on these. I really enjoying creating pieces that are constructed in the same way and use repeated imagery and techniques, but each piece is still unique.

  
These four pieces are available in the new "half box" set. I'm calling them the "Blue and Gold View" series. They were created in the style of this piece and with memories of growing up in the wide open prairies of Kansas and Nebraska.

paint, handwriting, stamping, embroidery, machine stitching, raw edges... all my favorite stuff. 

 

I hope you'll check out the Art Box csa website. There are lots more pictures of all the work including beautiful close-up shots. Plus details about pricing and availability.

Melly's Breast Pocket Project

My friend (and talented artist) Melanie Testa is in the midst of an exciting project to raise awareness for women who have had breast cancer and chosen not to reconstruct their breasts. She's one of those women!

She is gathering 1000 hand made "breast pockets." She took the idea of pockets on shirts or blouses and is using them as a symbol for the new landscape a woman's body might take. You can make pockets too.

I made pockets out of Wonder Under release paper. I love the transparency.

I like the idea of "seeing through." Melanie has been completely honest and transparent about her thoughts, experiences and struggles. I think it's interesting to think about women's bodies and what is seen and unseen.

I cut several words of out magazines to tuck into the pockets.

And I cut letters for the names of three women who have chosen to be flat.

I met Karen in a workshop. We didn't talk too much, but enough for me to know that she is a survivor in many ways. Of course, Melly. And I don't really know Tig, but I made a pocket for her too. She talked about her breast cancer on Conan O'Brien.

Tig has a new comedy album out. It's called Live! (You get the double meaning there, right?)

Thanks Melly! You are something to CELEBRATE!

Delicious Belgium

I never got around to posting pictures of all the tasty things we ate in Belgium. Earlier I posted highlights from France and food from France and highlights from Belgium... and now food in Belgium.

Of course, street waffles. Wow. 

And lots of lattes. One time my waitress asked if I'd like my coffee with "chantilly" and I just said "no thank you," thinking it sounded like some kind of alcohol. You know, like Irish coffee? Then the person at the table next to me ordered her's with chantilly and she got a lovely mound of whipped cream on top!

Best waffle ever.

More street food -- frites or French fries. There were several sauces to choose for dipping and tiny forks to dip with.

Most refreshing and surprising drink of the whole trip.

We were on a bus tour and we were hot and tired. Suddenly there appeared a strolling cart giving away free cans of Lipton Ice Tea. I think it was the passionfruit and green tea flavor, which I would not normally choose. Nothing like a freebie to change your mind!

The strawberrry and whipped cream waffle above was for breakfast. This chocolate and banana version was an afternoon snack.

Jeff had a beautiful apple pancake.

Candy shops everywhere! I think these little sugar cones are so pretty.

Chocolate hedgehogs!

Before our bike ride, we grabbed a quick lunch at Friterie 1900 in Bruges.

There was a whole case of various items to be fried. You order whatever you want and they toss it in the fryer.

We ordered fish bites, meatballs, cheese, chicken and potatoes. I couldn't eat like this too often... but it was pretty unique.

After our bike ride, our guide recommended a local place call Passage.

I ordered the "waterzooi" listed at the top of that menu page. Basically, chicken stew.

Claire ordered shrimp stew.

 

Jeff had a big slab of ribs.

I am so thankful that Francoise sent me home with some authentic Belgian treats! We enjoyed them so much!

At the top are the Jules Destrooper crispy butter waffles which are PERFECT with coffee as a mid morning snack. (Or anytime.) Luckily, I have found these at my local grocery store. In the middle are wonderful sweet honey breads and at the bottom are speculoos cookies. Those had to be carefully rationed and divided between the four of us. Wow. I'm predicting speculoos will be a hot new flavor trend!

Back to reality. We're having grilled chicken salad for dinner. Ho hum.

Ben and Claire

Just a few snapshots...

It seems like it was years ago that the kids and I heard Mike Birbiglia tell his jackal story on This American Life. We love Birbiglia and re-telling and quoting the jackal story is a regular occurrence in our family. So, when he expanded the story into a movie, we HAD to go see it. In the story, the jackal has short little arms "because those are the scariest kind."

Like this:

Or maybe like this:

The movie was great. Ira Glass did a Q&A after the movie. Also great. Even greater: Jeff and I are going to see Birbiglia live next week!

 I just love these two pictures of Claire -- they are sort of "day in the life of..."

Apparently she had French homework.

Claire is the most reliable dog walker in our family. Lincoln is hoping!

At this exact moment, I'm a bit overwhelmed with various stuff. So, it's nice to think about fun memories and simple moments.

Thank You!

Thanks for everyone who commented about my article in Quilting Arts. Lisa wins my extra copy!

Remember the coupon code QUILTART10 for a 10% discount in my etsy shop. That's good until October 10. If you're looking for my dvd workshop, you can find that in the Interweave shop.

Published! Plus... give away and discounts!

I am so happy to be published in the current issue of Quilting Arts magazine! Seriously, it's just thrilling! To celebrate -- I've got two special offers! A give-away and a discount!

Hey look! There's my article AND the actual quilts pictured in the article. As you can see, the article is all about combining linear and organic designs.

It's especially cool to be in the same issue with several quilts from the Rituals special art quilt exhibit, including my friend Judy Perez's on the cover!

Here's a detail of "Fruit Mantra" which is pictured in the article.

This little fabric collage art quilt is now available in my Etsy shop... which brings me to my special discount offer!

Use the coupon code "MAGAZINE10" to get 10% off your order in my Etsy shop. Hurry, this code expires on Oct 10.

The other art quilt pictured in the magazine spread above is titled "Autumn Leaves" and is also in the shop. Plus, a few other small art quilts I think you'll like.


Now... the give-away. I've got an extra copy of the current issue of Quilting Arts. I'd love to send it to you. Just leave a comment and I'll pick a winner at the end of the week and send it off. It's a great issue -- lots of really inspiring quilts and projects.