Finish Line

My snowflakes are finished and shipped. It is finally time for sewing projects of my own choosing. Next on my to do list is to clean my studio so I can get to my sewing machine. I recently moved my studio to a room with a door. I can close the door and make all of my mess disappear. Poof, magic...I love it!

A few years back when I started making my quilt block jewelry I tried many different color combinations before settling on some standard product offerings. Each year I edit and make a few changes. Last weekend I reviewed my line to get my 2010 order form ready. I added a new section called "Sale Items" to my Shady Grove Studios Shop. This category contains many discontinued color combinations at a discount. All my pieces are foundation pieced hand dyed fabrics. The sewing can be seen on the reverse side of the jewelry. Stop by and take a look. Please note I offer free shipping worldwide on all of my jewelry.

A Real Cut Up

I just found out one of my stained glass snowflakes is featured in an Etsy Treasury. Thanks Kaatirocketts! Click here before Tuesday at 8:00 am Eastern to see all the beautiful winter and summer inspired artworks listed in this Treasury.

This snowflake is one of many I have been working on for the last few weeks. By the end of the day today I hope to have 30 finished snowflakes and a few sun catchers ready to send to the Iowa Artisans Gallery for winter sales.

We have seen a few snow flurries around but nothing is sticking to the ground yet. Good news for me because I still have piles of leaves to clean up before the snow sets in. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend....Greetings from sunny and crisp, cool Wisconsin. - Chris

Waiting For the Sun

Early fall days before the first frost, we wait for the sun to shine.

It has been an Autumn filled with many gray days

With a few blue sky days in between.

This last photo is a shot of our farmstead mid morning. The sun is getting lower in the sky each day. Soon we will not see it until late morning when it finally makes over the ridge to warm the valley.

More photos soon. I have a couple more shipments to fill before I can relax and fill my free time with projects of my own.

A Grateful Thank You

At last, the postcards I received from the Art Quilts Around the World - Playing Card Swap. The Ace of Clubs is from Marion in Victoria, Australia. I love the idea of using buttons for the clubs and the textural stitching in the background adds an interesting element. The Queen of Hearts is from Lynn. I saw her blog post about how she made this card and just loved it. Imagine my surprise when the queen showed up in my mailbox a few days later.

Simone from Holland sent me the Ace of Spades. It was hard to photograph all the intricate embellishments she did on the spade. It is covered in black ribbon, tulle and numerous different stitches. The Two of Diamonds arrived "naked" from Chloe, also of Victoria. I can't believe how white it stayed traveling around the world in the post. Thank you ladies!

I planned to blog about the postcards in August but my house has been in such turmoil that I could never find all of the postcards at one time.

Some of the postcards arrived wrapped in greeting cards that featured the art quilts from the artists. I love this idea! Marian's "Urban Trees" featuring her quilt from the "Trees" Challenge

Lynn's Art Quilt featuring her friend Patty

And two items from Lynn's Etsy Store. One of her beautiful photo cards and this wonderful CD:

I was her first Etsy customer when I purchased this Relaxation Bliss CD back in July. It couldn't have come at a better time in my life. Thanks Lynn!

I was one of the lucky winners of this "Winter Woolies" Tree Skirt Pattern from Tammy Tadd Designs. Tammy's mom Velda designed this wonderful whimsical pattern. Thanks Tammy and Velda! Oh and have I mentioned that Tammy's Store was one of the Top Ten Shops in the last Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler magazine? Congratulations!!

A huge surprise from Bindu. Three bookmarks she sent me as a thank you gift. I love them!

Bindu is such a talented artist. She has talked about opening a shop on Etsy. I hope she does someday...

Wishing you all well!

Chris

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

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