Snowstorm NEMO in WNY

Strange name for a storm....and while we had more snow than we've had in the past couple of winters, it really was mostly "just winter" in WNY (not like the East Coast).  I took a few pictures this AM, but the cold is worse than the snow I think.    I have a collection of grasses - delicate little things that blow in the wind, but are much stronger than we realize - to hold the weight of several inches of wet snow!!!

 This one is quite buried under several inches of snow!

 The stalks and seed heads - I leave them all winter and cut down in the spring.   Good for color, texture and feeding the birds.   Thankfully they don't appeal to the deer!

 Look at the snow cap on this delicate little grass!

 Love this pic - the gentle arching of the grass and the covering of snow!

 My tiny little 3 foot high Japanese Maple Tree

The top of the Rose of Sharon bush - just above the fence top!

Then....the crocus!!! Another one done!

In my previous post, I posted a picture of this quilt in progress....it is now finished.   My entry, "Then...the crocus!", for the Rochester Area Fibre Artists show at the lowermill.com gallery in Honeoye Falls, NY.   These will be on display for the month of March!

"First a howling blizzard woke us;
then the rains came to soak us;
and now before the eye can focus
....crocus!!!"   by Lilje Rogers

               
This poem was the inspiration for this quilt.   I have always wanted to interpret that poem in fabric and when the theme for this show was announced as "Winter's End" - I knew it had to be done.  The feeling for me was the stark white and lack of color we all feel during the winter ....and can't wait for it to be over.   I think we are all surprised by that first little crocus that comes up - even though we know to expect it.  

There are over a dozen different "snow" fabrics, for all different fabric types.   Some of the birch trees are photos printed on fabric, the others are just fabric.  The quilting in the back is a shadow of birch trees, to contract the rolling, waving snow.   There is also a lot of bead work - not visible from a distance - but a surprise to the viewer who looks up close.

Three lone crocus - hint at spring's arrival (fabric and beads).

The poem by Lilje Rogers is printed on an organza overlay - due credit given to the author.

While the quilt is almost exactly what I envisioned from the beginning, and did go together fairly easily once I got started, I had trouble starting it.   All pieces in this exhibit must be for sale.   I don't do this to sell - it is an avocation, not a vocation.   If I create and then someone sees it, wants to buy it, and I want to sell it....all well and good.   But it is never my driving force.   I really had to work to put that mentality aside and just create.   However, the fact is.....I really am NOT ready to sell this yet!

Another show quilt almost done.... Winter's End

My RAFA (Rochester Area Fiber Artists) group is getting ready to hang another show in Honeoye Falls.   The theme for this show is "Winter's End".  I have had a poem by Lilje Rogers that I have always wanted to interpret into fabric.....

"First the howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain will come to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus....
Crocus!

This is it so far (you can tell it isn't done by the batting on the edges and the pins at the bottom.  This is pretty true to my original concept - all snow and just a "pop" to indicate the crocus!!   The poem is printed on organza overlay at the bottom - with appropriate credit given to the author.  

Almost done.....................  some more beading, a crystal or two, facing, sleeve and label.   Really - it is almost done!!!

Museum Quilt Guild Literature Challenge - My Big Reveal

So, our guild meeting has come and gone, all the challenge quilts have been turned in and I can now reveal mine. 

 

Butterflies and Bottle Caps

from the book by the same name!

Our challenge was to pick something from literature - it could be a book title, a scene from a book, a picture, an idea.........anything.   On the very night our challenge was announced, a friend of mine on Facebook posted about this book.   Since I love anything "butterfly" - an idea immediately took hold.  The premise of the book is that the main character has "butterflies for hair".   She feels she is different and strange and wishes she were like everyone else.  

Her mother is constantly reassuring her that she is beautiful and someday she will know it!!!



She tells her that "One day you will see how beautiful you are - one day everything about you will be free to dazzle".

Then she meets a girl who has "bottlecaps for hair".  

That girl wishes she had butterflies instead and the girl with butterflies likes the sound of bottlecaps - the sound they make in the wind.   They become instant friends and realize they are beautiful in their own way.

Some other detail shots -

The hair is all butterflies, individually cut from fabric, fused down, stitched with metallic thread - and some metallic butterfly beads are hiding there also.



 This is a butterfly button (actually 2 buttons) I made from clay, formed in a mold and baked.

 There are several dimensional butterflies on the quilt - this one flew out into the border.

 A butterfly bead landed on a bottlecap.

The bottlecaps were a long process of finding the right kind of cap - available only on beer bottles now apparently.   My husband was my very willing supporter in that venture!!!!   :)    Then they were painted, holes drilled, attached with perle cotton, anchored top and bottom with beads.   Some bottlecaps do dangle while others are more secure.   The circles for her hair are cut from silk fabric and fused, some are inked around the edge.

These quilts will hang in the local Richmond Library in the month of February.   Once they are all up and hanging I will get pictures of the rest and have them here to share!!!!  

Creating - not Revealing yet....

I have been working and creating on my quilts, just can't reveal any of them here.   I have 3 challenges underway - none can be shown yet.   Saturday we finally reveal our guild Literary Challenge.   Can't wait to see what book everyone has chosen for their inspiration and how they interpret it.

Meanwhile, my beautiful amaryllis - with 9 flowers, is no more.   But I have lots of photos of just how beautiful it was.   I've never been successful at keeping them to bloom a second time, but I'm going to try again with this one.

 This one looks like a tree, for goodness sake!

 I love close up shots.......right into the center of the flower!!!

Amaryllis & Challenges

I mentioned yesterday I was working on my guild literature challenge.   Here are 2 teaser pictures!



 

You had to guess butterflies would be involved!

Circles?    In the same quilt as butterflies????

Finally - nothing to do with my guild challenge quilt - just a picture of my Amaryllis plant - 2 stalks, 6 of the 8 blossoms are opened!   I've never had one with this many flowers.   The box said it was "Candy Apple" pink - not so much!   But, it still is pretty I think!



Blog Posting Frustration

For whatever reason, my blog site will not seem to let me upload pictures from my photo album.   No clue as to why......the usual buttons are not there to access.

I have no pictures really, because although I have been working very intently on a quilting piece, I can't show it until the guild challenge is due on the 19th of this month.   I'm all but done (sleeve & label) which is really early for me to be done 2 weeks ahead of time.

The title of the challenge is "literature" - we can use anything from a book - cover, photo, scene, title, printed passage - pretty wide open challenge.   The evening of the day it was announced, a friend of mine posted about a book on Facebook - I had never heard of.   But, I liked the title and I set out to find it - which was no small feat since it is out of print.   But, I did find it, and I have pretty much been able to accomplish what I envisioned!!!!!

Now, if I can ever get this Blog (or perhaps my computer) to cooperate.......you will someday see pictures.

A Goodbye to 2012 and a Welcome to 2013

As 2012 draws to a close (and I'm not sad to see it go), my wish for everyone is a safe, happy, prosperous and most of all - "healthy" New Year!!!!    May we all find much calm, peace and joy in the new year!!!

Snow, snow and more snow!

We have been lucky up until now - last year we had very little snow and it appeared this year was starting the same way.   Then the winter storm hit last night.  

 There is a concrete bench under there - normal sitting height, so this should give you an idea how much snow we had overnight.

 This is my wire mesh snowman - a typical snowman top hat in blue, but the snow makes it look like a "gnome" hat!

 They plowed us out at 3 AM this morning - you can see the huge pile at the end of the driveway and the tip of the mailbox just showing next to the tree.

This was Monday night before the storms and the snow, but I liked the house all decorated and lights on in this picture.

Post Christmas Breakfast

It has become a tradition that every year between Christmas and New Year's Day, I would take my daughters and grandchildren to breakfast. I thought perhaps tradition would be changed this year, but Heather was home for Christmas, and so......here we are at Cracker Barrel this morning.   We had to pick today as the weather does not sound good for the rest of the week.   As always, we had a great time, lots of chatting and laughing and a great waiter who accomodated us by taking several pictures!!!!

Christmas Concerts with Grandchildren

I have nothing new and "quilty" to post this nice snowy morning.   One of my favorite activities this time of year is going to my grandchildren's Christmas concerts.   Sadly, I only have pictures from one as I didn't have my camera with me for the others.   But, this is my youngest, playing trumpet and singing at his elementary school concert.   I'm so proud of ALL my grandchildren!!   They have inherited the musical gene and have been raised in a house where they learned to appreciate the value of musical education in a person's life!!!

 Playing in the Brass Quartet

 Ukelele Club

He knows he's getting "Nuttin' for Christmas"

So, as not to be biased........my other 2 - watching the concert!

ArtCGirlz Makes the News....in Batavia

We're in the news!!!!   OK, so it is only in Batavia, but still a pretty impressive article!   My art quilt group has a show going on right now thru the Genesee Arts Council and we are the featured article in today's paper.

You can read about us by clicking on the link below!!!

http://thedailynewsonline.com/entertainment/article_31ef2746-3552-5fd5-a6df-7ee29762cf78.html

Quilt Guild Christmas Party - Stockings, Poinsettias and Barn Quilts

Yesterday was my guild Christmas party.   I am president of my guild and we had a lot of business to do as we had to cancel our November meeting when there was no power in the VA building.  

The VA had appropriately decorated the room for us!

My friend Kathi ran a secret santa stocking exchange.  My good friend Melanie Watson drew my name and this is the stocking she made for me.  I LOVE IT!.    I love it mostly because it is obvious she put a lot of hard work into it to personalize it and make it mine! (Well, there is a lot of purple in it.)

We also welcomed Marija Vujcic who showed us how to make prety poinsettia favors for our gifts or ornaments for our tree.

My friend Martha did this quilt for show and tell.........isn't it cute....such a good play on Wizard of Oz!

Barn quilts are all the rage now - mostly they have always been large quilt blocks, made of wood and put on the side of a barn.   My friend Tracy and her family has a business and they started making smaller ones - these are 24 inches by 24 inches.   Here are two of the first ones they have done.  I love it!   I've got my block all picked out and I think there is room on the peak of my house for a small one like this!!!

Bottlecaps2....painted....ready for art!

And, so now they are painted!!!!   What do you think - some look like cookies, or candies!   Nope, that won't be it!   I still have to even find out if they will work as I'm planning!  

I used jacquard fabric paints which I probably wouldn't have done normally, but seeing as how I'm housebound right now (unless I can find a chauffeur), I had to use what would work!  I've gotten slowed down a little on this project - hoping to pick up steam and "get it done"!