Rising Up and Meeting the Day Again

Early Fall days in Wisconsin. Blue Skies in one direction....

Rain storms and a faint rainbows over our farmstead...

Mists rise from the rocks after the rain.

And a thin fog rises from the Sugar Creek at days end.

Thank you to everyone who sent me comments and e-mails over the last month or so. Sometimes things in life just come at you too fast and it is hard to rise up again. So many times when I was feeling blue and I would receive a message just when I needed it most. Thank you.

I am so grateful for your friendships.

The Cat Who Lived

I have to admit I have not felt much like blogging for a while. A few weeks ago our cat Cleo passed away. She was The Cat Who Lived. Cleo came from a shelter in 1992. She was the last of six cats we adopted through this shelter. She had been in an abusive situation before coming to live with us. We fell in love with her immediately, but she had a hard time feeling safe. Within a week she had stopped eating and the whites of her eyes were yellow with jaundice. When I took her to the vet I was told she had fatty liver disorder and was not likely to survive. I called for a second opinion from the shelter's hospital. They took her in for a week and her appetite returned. Once home she started to have problems again. I was talking to my sister-in-law about Cleo and she mentioned that she had lost a cat recently to the same disorder. She gave me a powdered vitamin supplement and told me to mix it in a blender with canned cat food and a bit of water. I put the mixture in a squeeze bottle and feed her until she regained her appetite. It took 3 weeks of this feeding ritual before she started to eat dry food on her own. She soon started acting like a normal healthy cat, however she never cared much for moist food after that.

She was a sweet and affectionate cat. She was the only cat I've ever owned that liked her belly rubbed. She loved to climb on my paperwork and stare at me during my workday until I would pick her up and put her on my lap. In her later years I set up a sleeping place under a lamp for Cleo. I liked to think of it as the best retirement home I could provide. Cleo was 20 years old when she passed away. We will miss her.

Parfrey's Glen

Last Sunday we spent the morning hiking through Parfrey's Glen near Baraboo Wisconsin.

It is an ancient place where you can see evidence the glaciers left behind.

Click on each picture and you can see the "wheels" of the glacier. Sandstone with aggregate layers containing granite boulders and pebbles.

A stream runs though the 100 foot high sandstone bluffs and exposes the granite bedrock below.

For a little perspective, find the hiker in the distance in the next photo.

This place is full of magic.

Best to be visited on a quiet day when you can hear the wind in the trees above,

the bird song in the woods

and the secret whispers of ancient times.

Giant's Causeway

Today is reveal day on the Art Quilts Around the World blog. The theme for this challenge was "Where Sea and Land Meet" This is my interpretation. I have always marveled at the basaltic rocks that form the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. I hope to travel and see this ancient place someday.

I would like to invite you to to visit the Art Quilts Around the World site and see the rest of the challenge quilts. These ladies are so talented. I always enjoy seeing all the different ideas they come up with.

Finishing this quilt was the last big deadline I needed to meet. I'm looking forward to some down time soon. I cleaned 3 rooms of carpeting last weekend and still need to move the furniture back where it belongs. By the end of this coming weekend I should have my house back in order.

It is good to be back to a normal routine. I hope to catch up on my favorite blogs in the next week or so. It was really hard staying away and I have to admit I did a lot of lurking when I had free time.

Not Playing With a Full Deck

Our Art Quilts Around the World group recently hosted a postcard exchange based on the theme "playing cards". I love ink and pen illustrations from the late 1800's and early 20th century. I decided to use the drawings of John Tenniel from "Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There" by Lewis Carroll.

I used pigma pens to recreate the outline and shading and then colored the post cards using my colored pencils. I heat set the pencil ink into the fabric and sent them off in the mail to California and Australia. I have always been suspicious of the Kings and Queens in a deck of playing cards and finally figured out why.

I really enjoy being a part of this group. The women are very diverse in their talents and I love having a deadline to meet. It forces me to break away from production for my shops and make time for myself.

I will be at the Madison Quilt Expo on Saturday. Please let me know if you will be there. I'd love to say hello.

Have a great weekend!

Chris

In Memory of Beauty, Grace and Spirit

I dedicate this post to the memory of my Grandma Virginia who lost her life today. She was born March 31st, 1904 in South Dakota. She had a long, healthy life and lived lifetimes of adventure. What I remember most about her was her warmth and laughter, a trait she passed on to her three sons. When I think of her I see her as an elegant woman, hair coiffed, makeup in place and always sporting beautiful dress or pants suit (that she had sewn) with matching jewelry. But she was also an outdoors woman. We went fishing together, collected rhubarb at the lake to make pies and made necklaces from the violets that grew in her backyard. She taught me to appreciate her love of nature and art. She will always hold a special place in my heart. Today I celebrate her life with a poem she wrote.

"God Lives"

It has been said that "God is Dead"

How can He be?

He paints vast canvases for us to see.

His knowing might our world controls

For mans enjoyment natures gifts unfolds

Earths revolutions, guided by his hand,

Expose new glories of our land.

Each seasons gifts he paints anew.

The mountains, the clouds, the rain, the dew

When snow has fallen through the night

And everything is clothed in white,

Mans disfiguring creations lie concealed

Above the horizon gradually revealed,

Appear the Masters strokes in reds & blues

Tinting the snow with reflected hues,

Clouds bright linings next unfold,

Which the rising sun has touched with gold.

The miracle of Spring, the Summer flowers,

The songs of the birds that fill the hours,

The beauty of the autumns flaming rays,

Who but the Master Craftsman could portray

Pictures from the artist brush adorn

The never ending mural begun each morn.

At days end painted with color bright

It fades into a restful moonlit night.

God is not dead, How could he be?

- Virginia Shoemaker Slaybaugh

Previous Posts about my grandmother:

Art Quilts Continued

Needlework Treasures

104

Oh My, What Did I Get Myself In To?

I have big problem with agreeing to do more than I have time for. I had planned to spend the month of August sewing blocks for my quilt block jewelry. I wanted to get all stocked up for the Fall and Christmas sales. Best laid plans....

In the mean time I was invited vend my hand dyed fabrics and jewelry at a quilt show in September. I couldn't resist the opportunity (partly because it is near my mom's home in Illinois). So now I'm spending all of my spare time sewing and dyeing fabrics. I even purchased some silk and velvet scarves to overdye and to add some more interest to the booth.

More complications. I am running out of many of the main fabrics I use in my best selling jewelry. I haven't added these fabric mixes to my Dye Candy shop yet so I had to break out the turquoise dye and get to work. Turquoise as a primary color makes beautiful greens and purples but it is an extremely aggressive dye. It also takes at least one additional wash cycle (sometime two) to rinse from dyed fabrics. I have 24 yards of blue-purples in the dryer this morning. I will be working on the blue-greens tonight or tomorrow.

I am also planning a fabric painting class that I will be teaching at the end of this month. We are working with Set-a-Color paints on white print cloth. This paint is very versatile. There are many different techniques to play with and the results are beautiful. I will have pictures for you in early September.

I may need to cut back on my blogging and reading for a while until I get my head above water again. I am just feeling too overwhelmed.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'm off to volunteer at the art gallery today.....Oh My

Perseids and the Milky Way

Perseids Meteor showers are at their peak August 12th - 13th. Viewed best in the Northwest sky after the moon sets.

As I child I studied our solar system, never really understanding that it is just a very tiny spec inside the Milky Way galaxy.

Where we live the skies are dark at night. On a clear night you can see the Milky Way, thousands of stars stretched across the sky in a thick band. If you have never seen the Milky Way make time to do it at least once in your lifetime. It will take your breath away.

Image from NASA "Image of the Day Gallery"

Greetings from Minnesota

A week at the lake with family.

Long days of dreaming without the interuptions of everyday life.

Morning walks to ponder the solitude and beauty of nature.

Afternoons spent playing....

reading and reminiscing.

Wildlife and Random Thoughts from the Shady Grove

Common Wood-Nymph

Hundreds of dragonflys will fill the fields of the Shady Grove in another week or so.

Eastern Comma

Our valley

Candian Thistle an invasive species, but oh so beautiful and stately.

This boy is just starting to show his antlers

Yearlings feed on the apple trees

and play tag outside my studio window.