I'm back!

(And I just can't figure out why my returns are giving me double spacing - so please bear with me while I investigate what to do. Anyone with a quick answer?)

I'm back now, so full steam ahead!  

We had some problems with Hubby's hydration issues which took us to the local hospital a couple of different times and then up to Mayo, Rochester, Minnesota for a week. For those of you who don't know, he survived a major blood clot in his small intestine almost 13 years ago (causing surgeries that left him with about 40" of small intestine), which then caused a cascade of other problems over the years. 6 years ago, he got a new liver, and 5 years ago, his brother gave him a wonderful gift of one of his kidneys. All is well now, or so we hope, and we go forward, as always looking for the sunshine after the rain.

I've been busy, but I can't tell you exactly what has taken up our days. We still have the house on the market and we're dreaming of the new one in a maintenance provided community. It seems our conversations are always wandering back to the new house...what if we moved this wall, what if we change the shelving, which way should my studio face. All good things to iron out before the building begins, right?  

I also finished the client wall hanging that was commissioned a little under a year ago. I thought I would finish it in June, but I just wasn't happy with some of the process, so I kept moving things around, cutting holes and adding just the right stuff until it looked like I had envisioned at the start. The client received it Monday night, and she was sooooo pleased, as was her hubby. I am always on pins and needles before they get their work, and this one was no exception. They have it on their wall, and it looks perfect, I must say. 

The process went something like this:

Selecting the fabrics - all the client said was that she wanted red...

I started the red skies/leaves and the tree trunks

I got extra help joining all the one inch squares

And even more help deciding some of the colors

Collection of scraps (orts) for the leaves

Making the ortwork with Sulky Solvable

Adding the ortwork leaves to the forest

It still needed something, so I decided to define the seasons starting with Spring

Then summer

Fall foliage

And winter delights

Seed stitch embroidery for all the seasons in appropriate perle cotton colors

Beading, beading, beading

My initials are signed in embroidery too

I love the handwork part of it all

And of course, Clyde has to add the finishing touches of cat hair!

And voila!  Forest Seasons is complete!

I hope you enjoyed the process as much as I did.  Merry Christmas to everyone, and to all a good night!

Looking for my Mojo

Have you seen my mojo? Quilting, cleaning, blogging...any of that kind of mojo? If you do, please let me know where it is, and I'll reward you handsomely! LOL!

I promise I'll be back soon and do a nice blog post for all my dear friends. I've been so swamped with some family issues and the holdidays that I have neglected this area - A LOT!

So be patient with me, and I'll get to it soon. In the meantime, calling all mojo searchers - be on the alert for Quiltgranny's mojo!

It's Over

So, it's over. This year's Guild quilt show, that is! Now, what am I supposed to do with my time? LOL!


The quilt show is over, and it was a GOOD one. I don't have much time to fill out this post, so I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Busy October

I've been pretty darned busy these last few weeks getting ready for the Lee's Summit Missouri Quilter's Guild quilt show that's coming up November 5 and 6th. I'd sure like to have you come see the show (and me of course!). You can find out more details on the guild's blog. It will be at the Woods Chapel Methodist Church at 4725 Lakewood Way, Lee's Summit MO, 9am to 5 pm each day.

I'm the chair for the Boutique, and I think I now have just about everything priced, packed and ready to load on November 4 in order to get set up. We've had a nice showing from national vendors who have generously supplied door prizes. Of course, I had to have help from Clyde who decided to closely inspect everything as I was pricing it. Then he got tired and had to take a little nap!

Clyd'es Boutique

I've also been to a couple of nice quilt shows in the area. I've taken pictures, but since there has been so much discussion about whether they should or should not be posted on the Internet, I won't post them here for now. I think from now, I will share a piece of it. For now, I will share two of my friend Shirlee's quilt - she's also an Amazing Quilt Babe. These were just two of them that she shared at her quilt guild's show. Aren't they amazing?

I never tire of seeing Hubby with the wonder dog Mayo cuddling, taking naps together.  The weather has turned colder here, and the old rag quilt is getting double duty.  I really should make another since I've repaired this one about three times.  It's one of their favorites!

With the change in the seasons, our sunsets have been spectacular.  The wind has certainly been high, so most of the beautiful leaves have blown away, but we can still get that gorgeous fall color just before dark.

About 15 minutes before sunnet

About 2 minutes before the sun is completely down

I hope your autumn brings beautiful things to you, too!

Mayo and Me

So, the question of the day is this?  Have you scheduled your mammogram yet?  

Have you asked your mother, your sister, your daughter, your cousin, your neighbor, your FRIEND if they have theirs scheduled?

Early detection saves lives and gives years of life to those we love. 

I know. 12 years and counting - detected early with a mammogram.

The Rambling River Exhibit

Here is an overview of The Rambling River and 11 of the 15 participants. As I discussed in my earlier, post, this group is comprised of 15 women. 7 of us are from the west side of the state of Missouri near the Missouri River around the greater Kansas City area, and the other 8 women are from the east side of the state near the confluence of the Missouri and the Missisippi around the St. Louis area. I'm trying to put together the map of the state with each of our locations on it, too.

This exhibit is 22' long, and I'm sorry that this photo doesn't quite show the ones on the right side very well due to the bend in the wal. When it is displayed in November at our quilt show, I should have a better photograph of it to share. If you are interested in exhibiting it at one of your quilt shows or know of a gallery who would like to have it for display, please let me know. It can be yours for the shipping/insurance to and from our location. Each piece is 18" X 22" so the weight shouldn't be very much overall, I think. And it is just stunning to see all the different techniques and ideas that were used without sharing information back and forth until the "reveal".

You can see this in person if you are in the area on November 5 or November 6 at the Lee's Summit Quilter's Quilt Show. It will be at the Woods Chapel Methodist Church, 4725 NE Lakewood Way, Lee's Summit, MO from 9 AM to 5 PM each day.

You can double click each of these pictures for more detail. Enjoy!

The Rambling Art Quilters, Missouri (four people not shown)

#1 Lorrie Oltman and #2 Jane Kennedy

#3 Jill Harmon and  #4 Wendy Richards

#5 Klonda Holt and  #6 Nancy Sinise

#7 Cheri Rabourn and  #8 Marsha Bray

#9 Quiltgranny and  #10 Candy Grisham

#10 Candy Grisham and #11 Cathy Wight

#12 Judy Humphrey and #13 Joan Ferguson

#14 Josie Hermsmeyer and #15  Terry Rhodes

Rambling River, Part 9

I've been working with a group of quilters on both sides of the Missouri and the Mississippi River.  Seven of us are on the west side of Missouri and the Missouri River, and the other 8 quilters are around the Mississippi River near and around the St. Louis area.

Back in March, we were all given a fat quarter of a piece of fabric that was all the same, and it was designated for the "river".  The idea was modeled after The Ever Changing River Exhibit (with their permission), that hung at the NQA in June of last year.  So with our guidelines in hand, the journey began.

RAMBLING RIVER GUIDELINES:

• Create an 18" X 22" finished piece using the fabric provided
• Based on your specific directions, the river MUST come out on the right and left edges EXACTLY the width directed. (Mine comes in at 4" and leaves on the right side at 5")
• It can meander anywhere else, including the bottom, but must come out the sides because they are meeting up with other sides that will be hanging next to it.
• When hung, the pieces will show a Rambling River but probably will not have a straight edge on top or bottom.  Sides must be straight so they will go easily up next to the piece on either side.
• Pieced must be completed (3 layers), but any technique with fabric is allowed.
• Edges should be faced (not bound) so the river and all the design come to the edge of the piece.

I've been steadily working on mine, and I even took it to Michigan with me.  Yesterday, after taking off what I actually started with as my inspiration, I worked about 13 hours on it.  Today was the last part of surface design, and the facing.  

It's completed now, and ready to go to the meet-up with the rest of the river pieces on Saturday.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to meet the other quilters from the east side because I have a "guest" trunk show to do at a local quilt show.  They promise me I'll have pictures, though, so that will be good. They will hang for the first time together at the Lee's Summit Quilters' Guild Show on November 5 and 6, 2010.  For directions you can check our blog.  Hope to see you there!

Here's my process of getting there from beginning to end:

Just the beginning that actually changed a lot over time
(I accidentally burned the avocado bag, so that HAD to change!)

Partial work shared  in June.  Mine is the fourth from the left (not completed).
After seeing this picture, I didn't like the look of my fields at all, so it went back to the drawing board.

Adding clover to the field requires professional help, right?

13 hours before completion, I still didn't like the top half that I started with.
Taking off the big green hill did wonders!  It's never to late to change!

17.5" X 22" edge to edge, completed

The sky is seed embroidery stitches by hand on hand dyed fabric with variegated blue thread.  The sun is Thai silk beaded with various sizes and color of beads.  The fields are batik couched with yarn, scorched avocado bag, silk tie and flannel.  The river is filled with 3 colors of rayon threads that are hand couched.  The tree is made of "ort" roving and threads.  The field is full of rosette embroidery stitched clover.  The coyote has some fur outlines in taupe beading thread, and the houses and the furthest trees are machine broderie perse.  I've done both machine applique and hand applique, hand quilting and machine quilting.  I've given some close-ups, but you can also double click on any picture for an extreme detail close up of any of them, too.

Close up of coyote, river, clover

Close up of the sun, the village and the river

A beautiful way to the end the day at Quiltgranny's house