Finished!

Isn't she beautiful?  I have mentioned this quilt before, but I promised to add a picture of the completed quilt.  I love this quilt.  I is all pieced, with the occasional applique when it simply couldn't be pieced.  It is heavily quilted, although I think the piecing design and the colors speak for themselves.
It measures at 104" wide x 120" tall.

Enjoy!

Dunn Quilting and Chairworks

I took some pictures of Dunn Quilting and Chairworks today,  so that you can see the changes, and feast your eyes!  I invite you to come and see all the new fabrics, thread, buttons, felt, oil cloth and more arriving all the time.
Enjoy!

Nicole

finally

I finally have pictures to show of my latest art quilt.
It certainly is funky, but I love it.  It, as many of my quilts, took on a life of it's own, and ended up being a celebration of my birthday. 

I love how textural it is, with all it's buttons and add ons, how heavy it is, and how each addition means some thing about me or tells a story.
The "stripes" are left over bindings, so they can be folded back and buttons sewn on underneath.  The black background is black dupioni silk.  The buttons are everything from simple plastic to a rich heavy mother of pearl, with lots of dudahs on the two sides. 
Enjoy!
nicole

Memorial Day\ Independence Day

This time of year, I start thinking about all the horrible wars we can't seem to keep from fighting around the world. 

I am very apolitical, don't like the divisions that politics create, but most of all,  I am very saddened by the loss of any life that is fought for my freedoms, my liberties. 

So, what can I do?  I can make quilts.  I make them principally for an organization headed up by a dear friend that gives quilts to those families that have lost loved ones fighting in wars around the world for us.  Families that live in New Mexico.  There are far too many of them.

I also like to make quilts for an organization called Quilts of Valor.  They have the goal to give quilts to every wounded soldier.  A monumental task.
 

Here is one I've been working on:

 I tried something new for me with this quilt.  I couched metallic red and silver yarn around star shapes that had been appliqued with Steam A Seam, finishing the edges of the shapes, adding a little bling, and quilting the quilt at the same time.
I then quilted the whole quilt again with a star pattern in red thread.  I love the resulting quilt. 

I hope to bring a little bit of comfort and thanks to someone who needs it, with my love.

nicole

another project

Another project I've been finishing up is my painting class.  Now, I come from a family of painters, so to decide to take up painting when I know darn well that I could study this for a lifetime and only get to be so so... but after only a semester I've learned a fantastic amount and I had an absolute ball.  I don't care if I'm terrible or really great, the point is to do something that teaches me more about art, and to have fun.

I encourage everyone to go outside their comfort level and try something new.  As a result of this class I am sitting every morning with my bird and my cup of tea to just sketch or try out my new watercolor pencils.  Try it!

Here are a couple of paintings I completed in my class.   The first assignment was to copy a famous painter's work.  I decided to copy my grandfather's painting of Santa Fe Baldy.  The result, while certainly not spectacular, is ok for a first painting, and I certainly learned a lot about the acrylic paint I was using, and my brushes.

the next assignment, later in the semester, was to paint a landscape with a person or persons doing something.  Can you find my person?  this is from a picture I took of Otowi Bridge near Los Alamos, NM.

It was a fun class, and I hope to continue painting...

nicole

Two weekends

Last weekend I went to Denver Co for  SAQA visioning Conference.  That is Studio Art Quilter's Association.   What a wonderful conference.  A visit to the Denver Art Museum, visits with old friends and meeting many new ones was great.
Although we talked art, photography, quilts, and taking care of ourselves so that we can be creative beings, we also had some time for walks around downtown Denver.  Here is one of my favorites, he is probably 2 or 3 stories tall!

Another picture from my walk.  These words were etched in marble and part of a larger saying, but I just loved the words themselves.

What is superimcumbent anyway?

It seemed to me this weekend was about words, words about our art, and new horizons.

So, reinvigorated, and refreshed, and recommited to creating fiber art, went home for a short week, and headed out again to Colorado for the next weekend at a friends cabin.

The best part was the view, well, and the friends of course.  Can't be beat.  Can't wait to see what quilts come out of these pictures. 

this is a very limited picture to the incredible 360 degree views of the distant mountains we had.  It was simply breathtaking.  I am soooo lucky to live near such beauty.

And just for fun...

A wagon wheel from a western store on our lunch stop along the way.   What a great shape!

Till next time,

nicole

Busy Busy...

I have been busy.  Hard to settle down to one thing.  So, what have I been up to?  Well, what do you do when you have about a million projects to work on?  I, for one, start a new one. 
I could argue that this particular project was already on the list, but not yet begun...
I decided to paint our now "guest room".  Our son moved out a year ago, so I guess it is time.  The hardest part for me, for some reason is chosing the color.  I was going to use a soft blue, but at the last minute decided on lime green.

this is the color it started with, a minty green.

Here we are in progress:

I'm still not sure about the color.  I am fascinated by how difficult it is to choose paint color, for me anyway.  Although pretty happy with the results, I still need some nice artwork on the walls, and am still working on a purple quilt that might look really good...
Oh well, not bad for a weekend project.
nicole