Time flies...

Well, another year has rushed by.  Where did it go?  How come time seems to be speeding up?   The older I get the faster it moves.  Crazy, huh!

Well, it has been a year of many big changes....  My youngest is out of high school and in college;  My eldest came home from a year of living, working & trekking in New Zealand and is off to a summer job in Alaska;  After many months of house hunting,  I finally found a house that I can call home;  My mother bought a house in SLC, Utah and is planning her move after living most of her life in SoCal;  And my father, who had been suffering with vascular dementia, passed away suddenly after a rapid decline. 

Some year race by without leaving their mark --- but this year has left an indelible mark on me... And the best part is all that stress has pushed me to get some work done.  Why does stress help my creativity?  I thought that my creativity had left or something?  But it was only a hiatus.  She is back, and I am enjoying working again. 

Don't get me wrong I haven't been doing nothing all year.... but quilting was taking a back seat to knitting. 

I have belonged to an art quilt group, "Quilting Without Boundaries", for a while, but in the last year I have begun to attend on a regular basis.  And most importantly participate in the monthly challenges on a regular.  Every month we pick a word or technique as a starting spot.  This year we are concentrating on surface design, my favorite. 

I also volunteered to get us some gallery space, and we are currently hanging our quilts in a local libraries gallery.  It is a great show... very diverse.  Below are the quilts that I hung in the show.

'Memories of Loss'  This quilt was made to honor my dad.  I began it when my he first went into the hospital by the time it was finished he had passed away.  This was made using the fabrics from the rusting and stamp-making surface design challenges & the 'key' challenge.  Additionally I used my own ice-dyed, hand-dyed & marbled fabrics.  I embellished with glass beads, metal charms and washers. 

 

 

 

Details of 'Memories of Loss'

 

'Zendoodle Sunflowers'  This quilt was done as part of a zendoodle challenge.  All of the fabrics are my own hand-dyes.  I embellished with Swarovski crystals and beading.

Okay! I Offically suck at this!

Okay!  So, I am admitting it. I love knitting and quilting, but blogging I just can't seem to get it together. 

I have been working like a crazy person for the past year...  Knitting sweaters, cowls, fingerless gloves and socks. I started a new quilt series for an upcoming show!   I even did a bunch of commissioned quilted pieces.   Yet, I just can't seem to get to blogging. 
 
So, no promises about getting anything up on my blog, but here is what I have been working on for the past couple of months.

This is a scarf I knitted for my son, Cole, for Christmas.

I bought this yarn in Salt Lake City over Christmas, before I took my vow of "No Yarn Purchases for the Year".  It is Tranco by Araucania 100% Cashmere.  It is beautiful to wear and so light and lovely.

These fingerless gloves were made for my son, Jesse.  They were knitted from the fingertips down in a Spud & Chloe fine sock yarn. They came out wonderfully, but I did rip them out half a dozen times.

"Apple Shrine" - This small quilt is part of a series I am working on for an up coming show.  I wanted to make "Food Shrines".  First I drew pictures of some of my favorite foods on fabric, then hand colored the images.  Next I looked for quotes to include on the fronts about the food being celebrated, which I transferred to the fabric using a Citra-Solv transfer method. I used all of my own hand-dyed fabrics.

Close up of "Apple Shrine".

Fingerless gloves knitted for a friend in Cherry Hill's jewel tone sock yarn.

Busy but not Posting....

Well, I have been super busy, but I haven 't been blogging. My goal for 2010 is to blog every week and to work every week to produce and finish new projects and old.... Finishing those UFO would be very cathartic. (for those not in the quilting world UnFinished Object)

I set up an etsy site, which you can find on the sidebar, or clink on this link http://www.etsy.com/shop/13thmoonstudio . I have sold only a small postcard, but I got good feedback, which is nice.

I also designed and printed up some business cards.

Africa Revisited - Front - 90"x90"
Originally, this was going to be the back of the quilt, but I liked it so much that it is now the the front.

Africa Revisited - Back - 90"x90"

I finally finished my 'Africa Revisited.' Unfortunately, I don't have the space to hang it and get a great picture. Maybe later...

Knitted and Felted Bowls

I also knitted a bunch of bowls, which were to be felted, that I didn't felt and sold some as hats at a recent craft fair, which I had a booth at. Then I felted them.... Now they are felted bowls.

Various Fabric Bowls

I made a bunch of fabric bowls for the same craft fair, using commercial fabrics and my own hand-dyed fabrics. Loads of fun!

Lorraine's Quilt

Also, I pieced a top for my cousin, who had a house fire several years ago and lost some many treasures. It still needs boarders and quilting. Hope she likes it.

I also did some commission work small projects that made a little money....

Postcards & the Post Office

So, I joined this online group to start getting me back into postcard, which I love doing but never seem to get myself motivated. Me & my forced deadlines... It seems like the only way I finish anything, but it works.
I finished the above batch for a generic postcard swap and got them into the mail yesterday. I didn't think I was every going to get out of there though. The postal employees had a huge discussion on they should cost to post, and then they wanted to know exactly how I made them. It was kind of funny!



Today I went to the post office to mail out some more cards for the birthday swap. More "oohs! And aahs!" Bur I got out quicker!

Art vs Packing

Okay so I am suppose to be packing to go to the Bay Area this weekend. I have a memorial service for my aunt to attend, and we leave tomorrow after work.

Instead I decided to go to the studio to create some fabric for my postcard exchange I joined. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go on these, but I found this great blue fabric that I dyed last month and dug out the ginko leaf stamp that I carved. I used lime green paint, but I think that I want to foil on it also. Tomorrow... I need to let the fabric dry. Maybe I could get it done before I leave for work.


I was thinking of ideas for the cards and I love the idea of breaking it up into color blocks. I pulled the hand-dyed red-orange and lime green... I think they go well.

Pet's and Art

Izzy on Africa Revisited

Last Night I went to go quilt on my Africa Revisited quilt and what do I find. Izzy has decided it is a great place to relax.

Jesse had a plan to corral the animals... Ace, the cat, seemed okay with the idea.

But Izzy was a definite NO!

Oh, well I will just have to get use to the idea of working around them!

Winning at the State Fair

Sunflowers - Best in Division

Okay, so a fellow quilter talked me into entering some quilts into the Nevada State Fair, and once I was on the website I saw the section for knitting and decided to enter some knitted items also.

Although I entered 10 pieces 5 quilts and 5 knitted items. I only had 9 at the Fair. Number 10, my Africa revisited quilt, I didn't finish in time, but I am loving it. I made it two-sided and now I love the back, which has become the front... What was I thinking? Not only did I decide to enter an uncompleted quilt, but I decided to make it a queen size, piece the entire back and hand quilt it sashiko style. Honestly it was finished in time just not quilted. Crazy!?!

I made out fairly well for just entering on a whim.

Close Up of the Sunflowers

Although this didn't win a ribbon, I thought I would repost this with the embellishments, and yes those are washers from the hardware store.

Green Camel Wool Shrug - First Place and Best of Division
It received a perfect score of 100!

Pink Mohair Sweater - First Place

Cole's Blue Baby Sweater - Second Place

Multi-Colored Fingerless Gloves - Second Place