WE CAN'T ALL BE STARS, BUT WE CAN ALL TWINKLE...

A WEEK  AGO TONITE, I PUT ON MY BIG GIRL PANTIES AND DROVE MYSELF TO CHANDLER...THIS IS IMPORTANT WHY?  I DON'T DO DRIVING IN STRANGE PLACES.  THAT IS WHAT MY FRIEND BETTY DOES.  SHE DRIVES AND I BUY LUNCH.  THEY DON'T CALL ME PRINCESS FOR NOTHING.

IT WAS THE NITE OF THE ARTIST RECEPTION FOR ART QUILTS XVIII...VERY IMPORTANT NITE.  BUT MY POSSE WAS IN HOUSTON WHERE BETTY WAS BUSY GETTING FAMOUS, SO I WENT BY MYSELF.

THIS IS THE QUILT I HAD IN THE SHOW.  

WALL STREET

IT WAS A GREAT SHOW AND THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD HAVE MADE IT BETTER, IS IF MY FRIENDS WERE THERE WITH ME.  BETTY AND FRANCIE BOTH HAD PIECES IN THE SHOW, SO WHEN I WASN'T BLOWING MY OWN HORN I WAS BLOWING THEIRS...THAT SOUNDS WEIRD, DOESN'T IT?

ANYWAY I PULLED OUT MY CAMERA AND HAD SOMEONE TAKE A PICTURE OF ME STANDING IN FRONT OF MY QUILT.  PERFECT,  I COULD USE IT TO BLOG ABOUT THE SHOW.

NOW THIS IS THE INTERESTING PART...I WANT YOU TO
TO IMAGINE ME STANDING NEXT TO MY QUILT.  VISUALIZE THIS...I AM QUITE BEAUTIFUL, STANDING STRAIGHT AND TALL, AND I REALLY LOOK SLIM.

GOT THE PICTURE?

I SURE HOPE SO, BECAUSE I DON'T.
JUST TONITE I WAS CHECKING MY CAMERA AND ERASING SOME OF THE OLDER PICTURES.  I PUSHED THE WRONG BUTTON AND...YOU GOT IT...THERE WENT THAT BEAUTIFUL PICTURE ALONG WITH THE BIG GIRL PANTS... DID I SAY I WAS SLIM?

"INEVITABLY, THE SEAT OF MY PANTS GETS ME WHERE I WANT TO GO."
                                      ...REDFOX 

LEAP AND THE NET WILL APPEAR

SOMETIMES  SOMETHING THAT IS OUT OF OUR BOX CATCHES OUR EYE AND WE JUST HAVE TO GO WITH IT.  MY SOMETHING WAS AN ABSTRACT FLORAL FABRIC THAT CAUGHT MY EYE IN THE QUILT SHOP.  IT WAS A LAVENDER, PURPLE AND LIME GREEN PRINT...TOTALLY OUT OF MY BOX.  BUT I BOUGHT IT AND WENT HOME AND MADE THIS QUILT.

CATCH 22...THE ONE I WILL BECOME WILL CATCH ME SO LET ME FALL

 Actually I didn't use too much of that print I was so drawn to.  I only used a little of it at the bottom, but I raided my stash and used all the bright green and pink fabric, colors I seldom used.  They just made me happy.

I had just taken a class with Betty and learned to insert slots and I used them to make Roman Numerals.  That's where the 22 comes in.  I used eleven twice...XI...XI.

I also did some fracturing for the first time.  Whenever I take a class I go right home and use the technique in a quilt.  When I go to a class I take fabric that I like and that way my samples will be used and not take up room in a drawer.  If you don't use them right away, you probably never will use them.

In one panel my lady is about to jump, in the other she already has.  We need to be brave and try new things and trust that we
won't be hurt. That is the message I wanted to send with this quilt.

WITH THIS QUILT I LEARNED SOMETHING IMPORTANT

CATCH 22 DETAIL

THIS IS A NICE QUILT, BUT IT DOESN'T EXCITE ME  LIKE THE ONES WITH BLACK AND WHITE STRIPES AND RED CIRCLES DO.

THIS QUILT WAS ENTERED IN THE ARIZONA STATE GUILD SHOW AND WON AN AWARD, SO THE JUDGES LIKED IT.  IT IS A BEAUTIFUL QUILT.


WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS TRY DIFFERENT THINGS AND THEN SETTLE IN TO THE ONES YOU LOVE...NOT SETTLE, CHOOSE, THE TECHNIQUES, SIZE AND COLORS YOU LOVE.   ONLY THEN WILL YOU FIND YOUR VOICE.


UNSCREW THE LOCKS FROM THE DOOR.
UNSCREW THE DOORS FROM THE JAMBS THEMSELVES...UNKNOWN

SHE DID IT.

                    SHE DID IT!!!

My niece Pam Emerson ran the New York Marathon this very day and she finished....woohoo!

My idea of running is when I try to get my letter in the mailbox before the mailman leaves and that mailbox is on my garage door.  But, I am so very proud of Pam that she did it.  And I know Bruce ran every step of the way with her.

  These are Pam's times .  I don't know a lot about running, but these sound really, really fast.


Pam was running with Team Ritter to promote awareness of Aortic Disection.

Pam's husband Bruce, my nephew, passed away in February of this year to that undetected disease.

DIANE AND HOWARD LAURIDSON

Diane Lauridson is my niece, Bruce was her beloved brother.  Diane herself underwent heart surgery in August.  These two wonderful people have strong hearts, but also big hearts.  They would literally give you the shirt off their backs, but I don't think they are giving up these.

 

              SHE DID IT!!!!!

        SHE DID IT FOR YOU

SHE DID IT FOR ALL OF US

SHE DID IT FOR BRUCE... 

                        ...Redfox

THE NUNS WERE ALWAYS JUST A STEP BEHIND

REMEMBER THE SAYING...GREAT THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES.  WELL I HOPE IT APPLIES TO QUILTS TOO, BECAUSE THIS SMALL 12 X 12 IN QUILT IS MY DONATION FOR THE ANNUAL SAQA FUND RAISER.

SAQA, STUDIO ART QUILT ASSOCIATES, IS A WORLD WIDE ORGANIZATION WHOSE MAIN FUNCTION IS TO EDUCATE AND PROMOTE QUILTING AS AN ART.  EVERY YEAR THEY HAVE A ONLINE AUCTION OF 12 X 12 INCH ART QUILTS DONATED BY MEMBERS.  A FEW OF THE QUILTS EACH YEAR ARE SELECTED TO GO TO THE HOUSTON QUILT SHOW TO BE SOLD IN A LIVE AUCTION.  MY DONATIONS HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO GO TO HOUSTON FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS.

ACTUALLY THIS SMALL FABRIC QUILT SHOULD REALLY  BE CALLED SISTER ACT TWO.  THE ORIGINAL QUILT WAS DONE IN PAPER AND WAS SUBMITTED AND PUBLISHED IN SOMERSET STUDIO MAGAZINE.  I HAVE TWO LOVES...PAPER ARTS AND TEXTILE ARTS AND SOMETIMES THEY CROSS POLLINATE.


I LOVE TO HAVE FUN WITH MY PIECES AND THE THOUGHT OF USING THE FINE SISTERS AS BACKUP SINGERS TICKLED MY FANCY.

THIS WAS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE LESS GRAMMA...MORE REDFOX MOMENTS.

FOUR O'CLOCK COMES VERY EARLY

WHEN THE ALARM  GOES OFF TOMORROW MORNING AT MY FRIEND BETTY'S  HOUSE, I WILL BE DEEP IN SLUMBER.   PERHAPS I WILL BE DREAMING OF THE DAY I CAN GO TO THE HOUSTON QUILT SHOW AND WIN A RIBBON.  THAT IS MY DREAM, BUT BETTY WILL BE ON HER WAY TO HOUSTON AND LIVING THE DREAM...FOR REAL.

This is the quilt that won that ribbon for Betty.  She has been told she won a ribbon, but not which ribbon.  I really think it is first place, but winning any ribbon at Houston is the reality we all dream about.Then on top of that she got another call from    Houston and they told her that her quilt had sold and the show isn't even open yet.  Now I'll show you her quilt and you can guess which ribbon she won.  It's a first, right?

This is a painting done by Betty that she had reproduced on silk and then quilted.  Betty Hahn is a wonderful quilter and she totally deserves to win a blue ribbon.  But then I am a bit biased.

I'm thinking that instead of dreaming,  I'm going to sign up for free motion quilting classes with  the best of the best, my friend Betty.

QUOTE OF THE DAY... KEEP COMPANY WITH THOSE WHO MAKE YOU BETTER...unknown

A GOOD FRIEND WILL BAIL YOU OUT OF JAIL...A BEST FRIEND IS THE ONE SITTING BESIDE YOU IN THE CELL SAYING, "BOY THAT WAS FUN!!!"

BASICALLY A SLUTTY DANCE...

TWERKING...V.  THE RHYTHMIC GYRATING OF THE LOWER EXTREMITIES IN A LASCIVIOUS MANNER WITH THE INTENT TO ELICIT SEXUAL AROUSAL OR LAUGHTER IN ONES INTENDED AUDIENCE...URBAN DICTIONARY.

Miley Cyrus isn't the only one who knows how to TWERK.  I knew how before I knew it was called TWERKING.   We used to just call it dirty dancing.  Sometimes the less said about a subject the better.

These two quilts are my entries for the New Mexico SAQA  challenge, A COLOR RUNS THROUGH IT.

TWERKING

 

 

When I made this first quilt I didn't have a title in mind.  I just had a guy and two girls in a slightly provocative pose.  But my good friend Betty took one look at it and said..."Twerking".  So blame Betty, I never ever would have thought of it myself.

EXTREME TWERKING

 

 

 

For my second piece I got a little sexier.  I just couldn't help it... blame Betty.  It was either her egging me on or the red circles, I don't know which.  I added another lady to the mix, or maybe LADY is not the right word...ANY WAY IT WORKS.  

So here are my ladies, in the act of moving/shaking ones buns in a circular up and down, and side to side motion...

BASICALLY A SLUTTY DANCE
                     ... REDFOX

 

DOPPLER NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD

When I lived in Oklahoma we spent a lot of time watching the tornado alerts on tv.  I t was like the stations would compete to see whose Doppler images would be the bigger or the most accurate.  So I watched with avid interest as the Doppler imagery came to life on Betty's canvas.  

These two wonderful art quilts are Betty Hahn's entries for the SAQA quilt show, A COLOR RUNS THROUGH IT.

All Bluster I                                                                               All Bluster  II

All Bluster I and All Bluster II   detail

I was fortunate to be able to watch as these two quilts were created.  The rules were that black and white with only one other color was to be used.  The first quilt, All Bluster I, was created using paint and small amounts of organza overlay, and the second quilt, All Bluster II, used the same with the addition of rusted cheesecloth.

I was excited to see that Betty had used the cheesecloth that I had rusted and given to her.  After seeing Betty's quilts I think I better dig out the rusted cheese cloth I kept and see if I can give her a run for the money.  Actually I bow to Betty as the better quilt maker, but I think I am keeping her on her toes...

AFTER ALL, WHO DO YOU THINK TAUGHT ME?