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 

 

THE GIFT

LAST NIGHT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING NIGHT... Last night seven close friends got together for a wonderful Christmas party.  We had great food, great presents, and GREAT FRIENDS. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART WAS THE FRIENDS.

I think, no I know, that a more talent and amazing group could not be found.  Two of our group couldn't come to the party and I missed them very much.  And they missed quite a good time.

                                  I LOVE THEM ALL.

I don't have pictures of the party girls, we were so excited that we didn't take any, but I have pictures of the gifts they each gave me, that I took this morning.  I got to relive the fun...
                 WELCOME TO THE PARTY.


The party started at 4 pm and It took me until 3:31 to get all of my gifts ready.  I wanted them to be perfect for my friends and of course I waited until the last few days.....so
                      NO TIME TO CLEAN UP.

                                                    

AND YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FLOOR

When I work, that's all I do, I don't clean.

So here I am at 3:31.

ON TO THE PRESENTS...

 

                                           

                                        This is how I presented my gifts.  They are always all wrapped the same, but the colors of the ribbons did change to white.  This one is still waiting for Elizabeth.  Elizabeth, we miss you.  Connie we miss you too.

Mom outdid herself on
her presentation.  Each of her gifts had a different gold ornament attached.  She made each of us a special fabric dish and when we asked her how she made them stiff and formed them, she just smiled and told us of a "SPECIAL" interlining.
 Each bowl was different.  Personally I think mine is the best.  How "SPECIAL" our 97 year old Mom is.

When it was Diane's turn to present her gifts, she had us play a little game.  One person drew a name and then that namesake got to draw in the gift basket.  I drew this beautiful watch with a shiney black band and a face circled with crystals.
                       IT WAS PERFECT!
Each watch was different and each was a random pick.  I THINK MINE WAS THE BEST. 

Francie was up next and her gifts were in beautiful gold foil bags.  Francie had gone to the Houston quilt show and spent time at the venders buying gifts for us all.  A LOT OF TIME!  She got each of us a cute magnet that caught each  personality in a funny way.  GLAD I'M NOT NEEDY!  She also gave us fabric and a finger stiletto.  Now I guess I need to be educated because I thought stilettos were 
something I used to wear on my feet.  Oh the wisdom we get as we get older.   So much to learn and so many years left to learn it...RIGHT MOM?

Margaret was thinking about our fingers too.  She got us all the wonderful products we can use to keep our hands soft so we don't "snag" the wonderful art we make.  I'm sorry I use the word wonderful so much...BUT EVERY THING IS!   Just look at that cute cuticle scissors...    WONDERFUL!!!!!

Margaret took BROWN BAGGING IT to another level.  So did Betty.

    WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT...LUNCH BAGS AT THEIR BEST!

Betty gave me these two wonderful bracelets.  I happened to walk up to the check out stand when she was buying the cuff.
I told her I sure hoped it was for me.  I AM NOT SUBTLE.   I seem to recall seeing the other one at her house and telling her "so and so won't like that."
                BUT I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How bad am I?   Don't answer that.

I'll show you how good I am... Susan, our newest friend made homemade cookies for us.  As I opened mine I told her If I didn't want my husband to get them I would have to eat them all now (at the party).  Well I didn't and HE DID.... I did get a couple.  GOOD!

What did I give the girls?...

WHAT DO ALL GIRLS WANT?
Shoes, lots and lots of them.  Everyone got a different pair of shoes for mailing.  They all said they loved them, and Diane, who is a shoe horse, said, "Why didn't you give me these to wear them?  I just told her they were ... "KILLER SHOES.", and smiled.

Now I've talked about the presents a lot, but I know, and they know, the best gift is their
                             FRIENDSHIP...............

ANYONE CAN GIVE AND GET PRESENTS, BUT I CAN NEVER THANK MY FRIENDS ENOUGH JUST FOR THE SIMPLE GIFT OF BEING MY FRIEND.

  WITH THIS LETTER, LOVE IS THE GIFT I AM GIVING YOU...REDFOX  





                                            
      

 

 

 

                                                    

BEYOND THE BIRD.................

HELP! I AM LOSING MY FRIENDS...

I DON'T MEAN THIS IN A LITERAL SENSE.  IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK. MY FRIENDS STILL LIKE ME, IT'S JUST THAT THEY ALL SEEM TO BE LOSING....THE DREADED WORD............WEIGHT.


Yesterday Betty came over to borrow a pet cage for her new dog Curtis.  She had on form fitting black jeans and she looked stunning.  Betty eats 1 meal a day and it is all carbs...well almost.  I gave her the cage and told her to go home...
                               TO EAT!

Diane is looking really wonderful and she looked great before. What is her secret?  She went to work at Kohls.  Can you believe it?  They love her there because she really works...works...works.

I guess I could go to work,
                   BUT THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!

Now take Connie.   I don't know what she did, but the 
last time we all got together at the ice cream store, she didn't order ice cream.

            WHAT KIND OF DIET IS THAT?

Margaret is losing weight too.  I know what did it for her.  She got a new boyfriend.

                   BUT THAT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!

Elizabeth, Francie, and I seem to stay about the same.  ALRIGHT,  I GAINED A BIT!   And Mom, Mom is always perfect.  Even if she had gained weight, I think you are allowed to at 97.

THE GOOD PART IS THAT , WHATEVER OUR SIZE, WE ARE ALL BEST OF FRIENDS.

AND I WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY............REDFOX 

READING THIS BLOG IS LIKE WAITING FOR THE FIRST SHOE TO DROP.

VENI, VIDI, VISA  (We came, we saw, we shopped)

Tonite I want to tell you the rest of the story... it went like this.

I LIKE THESE SHOES.
BUT I LIKE THE OTHER ONES, TOO .
HMMM.
THAT GIRL JUST PICKED UP
THE ONES I LIKED FIRST.
NOW, I THINK I LIKE
THAT ONE MORE.
I'LL JUST WAIT...JUST WAIT...
UNTIL SHE PUTS IT DOWN.

THEN...
                                THAT'S WHY!!!

 Are these not the cutest shoes ever?
                     I DO CUTE!

A picture I culled from a magazine was my inspiration.  I added the dots on the toe caps by punching out paper circles and decoupaged them on with varnish.  I printed the phrase...POOR CINDERELLA...over and over for the insole.

"I DIDN'T LOSE MY SLIPPER

AT MIDNIGHT BY ACCIDENT;

I KNEW ALL TOO WELL THAT 

SUCH A TINY FOOT WOULD

MADDEN THE PRINCE WHO WAS

LOOKING FOR A WIFE...NO

ONE HAS YET SEEN THAT SIDE

OF ME, 'POOR' CINDERELLA."

       ...LUCIANA BOCCARDI

I love that quote and use it often in my altered books.  It puts a whole different slant on the Cinderella tale.

IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT I LIKE DIFFERENT SLANTS...SOMETIMES I LIKE TURNING THINGS COMPLETELY UP SIDE DOWN. 

After I had establish my Cinderella theme, the rest all just fell into place.

Into the first shoe I glued a red and white bird.  It was a brown and white bird, but remember that Charlie Brown tree?  This was a Charlie Brown bird.  Red paint and a black marker trimmed that tree.

Why put in a bird?  Remember the Cinderella story.  The birds all fluttered around and helped make the dress for the ball.

                                          

                                         

 I had planned on using red lace around the shoe opening until the shoe itself told me... LESS IS MORE.

I know some of you are saying, "less is just less", AND YES, THE SHOE DID SPEAK TO ME.  

Always listen to your work...if it goes south you are not listening.

 

Remember the mice in the fable?  Or maybe they were rats.  Anyway they were turned into coachmen.   

They told me something too.  They told me there should be two of them.

 The coachman has a beautiful red coat, as any coachman should have when he is taking a princess to a ball.

"GOOD TASTE IS THE WORST VICE EVER INVENTED."

...DAME EDITH SITWELL

ONE TWO BUCKLE YOUR SHOE

 I NEEDED A BIT OF BLING THERE......................

I hope these shoes lived up to all the hype I gave them.  I didn't really almost wet my pants.  But I did have a lot of fun.

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO FIND THESE IN YOUR MAILBOX?

     A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME YOU MIGHT.........REDFOX 

DISTRUST ANY ENTERPRISE THAT REQUIRES NEW CLOTHES...THOREAU

I told you I would write tonite about my adventure to the Goodwill store, or as we lovingly call it...GW.
I was about to tell you it was a bust, I only bought a pair of shoes to alter, but then I thought somemore about those shoes.  They were Cinderella shoes, or at least the ugly stepsister shoes.

 What attracted me to this pair of shoes was the black and white herringbone pattern.  Black and white are my signature colors.  I could do something with these shoes...
       
      BUT WHAT???

These shoes are not only ugly stepsister shoes, they are CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS TREE SHOES.

All these shoes need are a little love and a lot of brainstorming.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Plain black sole.....Herringbone..........Does the name LOUBOUTIN come to mind?

INSPIRATION

Now I am getting excited.  With my game plan in hand I am going to decorate that TREE.  If I can dream it I can do it......................

"TO BE CARRIED BY SHOES, WINGED BY THEM. T0 WEAR DREAMS ON ONE'S FEET IS TO BEGIN TO GIVE REALITY TO ONE'S DREAM."     

Ok, I am getting a little carried away here.  Now I have to make sure these get turned into really great shoes...................

"AFTER ALL CHARLIE BROWN IS DEPENDING ON ME."    

                                              ...REDFOX