OKEE DOKEE

I just saw the phrase " OKEE DOKEE " on an e-mail from my friend Francie and I thought it would make a good title for a blog.  I think It kinda means going along with something.  Tfhat is how my whole day has gone.

The morning was wonderful.  I had a date with Mom to go to GW and that went great.  I picked her up and she looked very cute in a black and white jacket with an orange scarf and shirt, orange earrings and a white leather flower on her lapel.   She is 97 and yet dresses like a model every day.  I on the other hand am lucky if I comb my hair every day.  In fact I have been known to not.

But I am digressing.  Anyway we had a good trip to GW.  Mom bought books and I bought every thing else.

 WELL THEY HAD THESE GREAT SILVER AND BLACK GLASS VASES THAT WOULD LOOK SO GOOD IN MY HOUSE.....THREE OF THEM.  OF COURSE I COULDN'T  BREAK UP THE THREESOME.
 
Then we went over and had a nice visit with Betty and her new knee.  That's a stupid statement, when you visit Betty you simple must visit her knee.  That was lovely, but I cut it short as I had to get home to finish my SILVER quilt.

IT WENT DOWN HILL FROM THERE...  

RISING  7 X 10

 

 

  
This  looks good, right?  Well it didn't get that way easy.

When I got home today I thought I had better go online and check out the address that I had to send a 8 X 8 SAQA donation quilt that I had made.  Not only did I find out where to send it, but I found out it had to be 7 X 10.

                     BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.

So I had to cut the width and that cut off my lady's elbow and I had to make it longer.  That was easy...ADD RED.

So I added red to the bottom and then I finished the raw edges by sewing on a facing.  But when I tried to turn it, it wouldn't look good because of bulky corners...UNSEW THAT.

After picking out those stitches, I sewed on a narrow binding... TOO NARROW.

I had cut the binding too narrow and it wouldn't go around to the back...UNSEW THAT.   

By now I am really frustrated, but I pick all those stitches out and thank God that the quilt is only 7 X 10.

I am about to try a new binding, when I notice that my left arm is aching.  And I think it has been for quite awhile.  Now I think God is maybe telling me that I am going to have a heart attack.  Now, you know I still haven't sewn an inch on my SILVER quilt.

BUT SINCE "THE FIVE" IS OVER ON TV AND I'M GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK, I THINK I MIGHT AS WELL TAKE A NAP.  (AFTER ALL, IF I DIE FROM A HEART ATTACK, I WON'T NEED TO FINISH THE QUILTS).  

                                                         I SLEEP.

My hubby makes his own dinner and I sleep until 7 o'clock.  I get up and put the correct border on.  DONE!

THIS IS RISING NEXT TO MY SILVER QUILT WITH IS TITLED STILL I RISE.

 
The inspiration for the rising quilt is the big quilt that I am making for the Silver Anniversary of SAQA.  For the Donation quilt I used the same motif and all the same fabrics.  The Silver quilt is still a secret, so I just show a little bit.   OKEE DOKEE?

The inspiration for both these quilts are these simple words:

BE CALM, GO DEEP, GO SLOW.

                              ...REDFOX 

 Now I just previewed this blog and I see that my letter contrast is off for most of the story... TOO BAD!  I don't know why it did that and I'm too tired to fix it.  I used too many words anyway and my ARM HURTS.

I THINK THE TITLE SHOULD HAVE BEEN 

            DEAL WITH IT!
 

OH MY !!!!!

                        

Remember the Wall Street quilt in my last blog?  Remember my saying I didn't have a picture of the bull market on the back?  Well tonite I was going through my files and deleting some pictures, when I found this..................

 
THIS IS WHERE I GOT REAL QUIET AND JUST WHISPERED THESE WORDS,
                                                          
                                                         HEDGE FUND

You have to get up real close to read them...
If you can't find the words, they are just south of downturn and east of verbatim.

                             ENOUGH SAID

I hope it won't alter your opinion of me if I say I enjoy putting a little something aside for a rainy day.  Too bad we live in Arizona where it doesn't rain very often.

In case you forgot, this what the front looked like.

Seriously, I believe when creating a piece of work, that the back is just as important as the front.  I always try to jazz it up a little.

                             TIP:  Never think that any old fabric will do for the back.  Use a good looking pattern on the back.  A patterned back will hide many little mishaps in the quilting...not that I make any. (for the judges)  If your front is a work of art, why should your back be any less. USE THE BEST. 

REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT WHEN YOU WALKED OUT OF THE LADIES ROOM AT THE HIGH SCHOOL PROM, AND YOU HAD A PIECE OF TOILET PAPER STUCK TO THE BACK OF YOUR SHOE?

YOU NEVER WANT TO FEEL LIKE THAT AGAIN.

                                                         

                         ... REDFOX  

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Today I spent the whole afternoon just entering another quilt show.  Why does it take me the whole afternoon?  It is because I am practically a virgin on the computer.  Well it is good to be a virgin at something, although I think you are either a virgin or you are not.  I guess "Almost a virgin" is considered an oxymoron.  It takes me longer to enter the quilts than it does to make them.
                                ALMOST.

The show I am entering is a SAQA New Mexico art show at the Hubbard Museum.  New Mexico is my second state in the SAQA organization.  SAQA stands for Studio Art Quilt Associates.  The show is called Beyond traditions and we could enter 3 quilts and 2 three dimensional pieces. 

REALITY IS ONLY A RORSCHACH INKBLOT  37x52

The inspiration for this quilt came from a quote by Alan Watts.  "Reality is only a Rorschach inkblot, you know."  It was created for a former show with a Paradox theme.  It got into that show and now I'm gonna see if it works again.  We keep these quilts busy earning their keep by sending them out to one show after the other.

Entering quilts in shows is kinda like rolling the dice.  Sometimes they get in, sometimes they don't.

I created this quilt by pouring black and white craft paint onto fabric, then folding the fabric over the paint to get the inkblot image.  I had to get it exactly right the first time because I was almost out of paint and since it was midnight there was no store open for refills.

BESIDES, I WANTED IT WHEN I WANTED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

OBSESSION 30x50

 Have you ever heard the saying...

THREE TIMES THE CHARM?

Well I sure hope it is true.  This quilt won a blue ribbon at the Arizona Quilting Guild state show, but at the last show I tried to get it in, they said, "no thank you".  At the one before that it was no thanks also.  So this is the third time since it won that ribbon.  It thought it was big time, and now it's feelings are hurt...The quilt's, not mine.  I'm learning to roll with the dice.

Wonder why they don't like it.  Perhaps it is the subject matter.  It is heavy on the mixed media and like its title, it's pretty much on the dark side.  The quilt is about the controversial  artist 
 Frieda Kahlo...
AND SHE WASN'T VERY NICE!

Frieda had many lovers, both male and female, she was married twice, to the same man, and she once painted a picture of a suicidal woman jumping from a building, and ...
      SHE GAVE IT TO HER MOTHER!
Yes, she gave it to the woman's mother...
      HOW BAD IS THAT!!!!!

Other than that she was a very nice lady.  She was an artist from Mexico, perhaps that will
give me a leg up with the New Mexico Jury...
                        NOT!

WALL STREET 37x35

 

 

This quilt pokes gentle fun at a not so funny situation...the down turn of the economy.  This quilt is currently in an exhibit Art Quilts XVIII at Chandler AZ.  If it is chosen it will come home later this month and go on a delightful journey to New Mexico.

I used inkjet printing on fabric for the animals in my cast of Wall Street characters.  They are appliqued onto a background that I painted using stencils and a hand carved stamp.  I am especially fond of this character.
   ARE YOU LOOKING JENNITA?

There are hidden elements under the ties.  There is a wolf in sheep's clothing and a sheep in wolf's clothing.

WELL THEY ARE NOT HIDDEN ANYMORE ARE THEY?


On the back of the quilt there is a bull applique.  I don't want to say this too loud, but there are the words..."hedge funds" printed in a place on that bull that the words "hedge funds", or any other words should never be printed.  
                      PRIVATE!!!

That bull represents an UP MARKET.

   AND THAT BULL IS REALLY UP!

I also entered two altered books, but I will leave them for another time.

                   IF I GET IN THE SHOW, YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO HEAR ABOUT IT,
                   IF I DON'T, YOU WON'T.
                 
                                          ...REDFOX