Tiny (?) changes....

Hoping I haven't bit off too much more than I can chew.....

My word of the year top is done with hand dyed and ice dyed fabrics...

but feeling a little under the weather has messed with my desire to quilt this week.

In the meantime...

I am participating in a 7 day nature photography challenge

 over on Facebook...

and so I have been posting mostly old photos....

that I tinkered with using iPhone apps...

  and Photoshop Elements,...

while I train for a new job....

study for an old job....

keep on top of my Happiness Project....

find time for exercise and meditation...

enjoy some company....

and

knit in my spare time (did I say spare time?!!!)

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur."

-Leo Tolstoy

Failed.... again!!!

I tried and tried... but I just couldn't do it.... 31 consecutive days of blogging, that is.

With weather like this in December in upstate NY...

who could blame me????!!!

A failure is not always a mistake, 

it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances.

 The real mistake is to stop trying.

-B. F. Skinner

Failure is really a harsh word isn't it???

I have made many mistakes this year

but I now realize that 

it was really simply the best I could do at that moment in time

Those mistakes are done

and I need to focus on the joy of the present moment!!!!

(this was my word for 2014... I am working on one for 2016, how about you?)

And yes, there were presents lol!!!

This week, I couldn't blog about my latest projects 

because these projects were under wraps (so to speak)

... or should I say, wrapped!!!

There was a pillow to commemorate a beloved pet...

cookies in a jar to layer...

pouches to fill with junk...

a shawl to knit and knit and knit...

and

cookies to bake....

(wait!!! I didn't bake those cookies!!! the kids did!)

Even with all the hubub going on here,

Amazon left a new house for Olive...

Now that those projects are in the hands of loved ones,

I can move on to the myriad of unfinished 

and unstarted projects

and I will surely have plenty to blog about!!!

Wishing all of you peace, joy, love, and new projects this holiday season!!!

Just about time...

..to get in some last minute bidding on the first round of quilts being auctioned off 

by Quilt Alliance on eBay!!!!

But

there are still a few hours left to bid on my quilt!!!

As she gets ready to head to her new home, 

I will probably not see "Olive. Olive You." again ....

but I still enjoy Olive in real life...

often enjoying some breakfast together...

and now that it is mid November,

it is just about time to start some holiday projects

that probably could have been started months ago...

and when I am not rushing to get these done,

I am always working on something else...

in black and white, of course!

Start the bidding....

Do I hear..???

Yes, 

Olive. Olive you  

is going home with one lucky winner some time in the next week or so....

The quilt, along with the many other "Animals We Love" quilts 

are being auctioned off on eBay

(check out the  Quilt Alliance website- she's the cover girl today!) over the next few weeks...

But the real Olive

continues to entertain us at home 

with her cuteness...

her studiousness....

her squeaky voice...

and her cuddly, lovable disposition.....

In the meantime, 

while you all are bidding on the quilts,

we  are enjoying a little cheesecake

(all one-million calories or so.... I mean, 2 lbs of cream cheese, for goodness sake!)

courtesy of Nature Boy....

and I am putting the finishing touches on my latest project...

 that is getting ready to be packed up 

along with the quilts of the fiber art group I belong to

on a journey around the USA with Mancuso Quilt Fest

 Stay tuned.....

.

Yep, I am....

back in the saddle

doing something you stopped doing for a period of time; Friedman's career seemed to be finished a month ago, but he's back in the saddle and playing for Houston.

-from The Free Dictionary

Yeeeeeeeeha!!!! 

This weekend, I put on my cowboy boots and ten gallon hat

and ...

Okay, I don't own either

but

It seems that I am beginning to find my groove again!!

 

I spent some time at the sewing machine, 

working on a project that has taken many pauses over the past year

 and still has a way to go!!!

This is the now very famous Olive with her late companion, Tinkerbelle.

Originally, this photo taken by my youngest child, "Sugarbaby",

was supposed to be a small quilt 

destined for the Quilt Alliance "Animals We Love" Contest

but the project outgrew the dimensional limitations (16"x16")

(as well as the innocence of the original photo!!!)

and so we all know what happened to that contest..

(a refresher just in case you forgot!!!)

Now the project 

needs a lot more thread and perhaps some added dimension.

And eventually, a title....

Thelma and Louise?

Girls on the Lam?

 

Stay tuned...

I attended a lecture at our local art museum 

entitled "Art is a Feminist Issue"

in conjunction with a current exhibit,

Audrey Flack: Heroines.

An octogenarian, Ms Flack

created an exhibit of mixed media drawings and prints to

highlight women neglected or demonized by history.

The pieces in this exhibit were all completed within the past few years...

 

So maybe my best work is yet to come!!

I also began some hand stitching 

which I find particularly relaxing ...

This project has a deadline so I may have to speed up my relaxation!!!

Not to be confined to the sewing needle,

I dabbled a bit in the kitchen...

and even donned the ol' running shoes...

Life is full of surprises!!!

blogus interruptus or Quilters Take Manhattan take 3

Yikes!!!

Right after I made a come back to the blogging world

I disappeared again!!!

I kept thinking about blogging

but life got in the way and

the days kept rolling by...

As Albert Einstein once said...

"Life is like riding a bicycle,

to keep your balance, you must keep moving."

so, I am moving on...

(from a recent Color Me Rad race)

trying not to choke in the process...

(just didn't want to eat the colored powder they were throwing our way!)

and somewhere I will find balance!!!

In the meantime,

back to...

Day 3 of Quilters Take Manhattan...

 which started with a talk by Alex Veronelli of Aurifil Threads

He entertained us with a running commentary and video 

on how they make their threads.

Very interesting!!!

and we each got a package of threads of the various weights!!!

He shared with us

which needles to use with the various weights of thread

as well as what kind of bobbin thread to use. 

Then we got to see a few samples of the various threads at work

including this piece that I had seen on Facebook

by Shruti Rohit Dandekar of 13 Woodhouse Road

and a close up...

Of course,

what is a blog post about NYC without a few photos of the colors of the city???

and some doors...

and some of the beautiful architecture of the city...

I finished the weekend with a workshop with Earamicha Brown

on embellishments...

The original workshop was supposed to be led by Frances Holliday Alford

but Frances was recovering from surgery 

and sent trays and trays of goodies to use in our projects..

These days,

I have warmed up from a weekend in the Hudson Valley

at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival

which featured

small, cozy cabins for 4..

some good food

majestic fall trees

and dare I say,

snowflakes???!!!

cute animals...

and some yarn, of course!!!

Now..

 I am back in the studio

creating a series (at least, I think it will be a series)

with some 

and

Stay tuned....