1st place

We had our River City Quilt Show this past weekend and I won a ribbon in the small pieced category. My entry was part of a challenge. We were given two fabrics and had to make a quilt, bag, garment, curtains of whatever one's creative mind could dream up. There were some big quilts and small ones. This quilt was about 28" by 30".

One of the center green yellows and the turquoise were the given fabrics. Well, by the time I had my design and got to the outer edge, the turquoise was too loud. So, I took fabric paint and sponged it on the bright fabric. Hey, there was nothing in the rules that said the process was not allowed.

Figure drawing

After a summer break, figure drawing sessions are again being held on Friday mornings. We start with 2 minutes poses and work up to the longest pose of 35 to 45 minutes. There is sooo much talent in the class. I enjoy seeing the different media that people use from charcoal, to pastels to watercolor. I'm like the kid in the candy store. I want to try everything. However, I seem to settle on pastel pencils for the longer poses.

This was a 35 minute drawing. I am beginning to get some of the concepts and proportions correct and then--I know that I have so much more to conquer. That's OK, it's fun to keep trying.

Watercolor and pumpkin

OK, I have never done a watercolor of someone I'm supposed to recognize. But, I decided to do a monochromatic version of my twin grand babies. There are many flaws, but it is a start and my husband had that special smile when he saw it-so I'm getting there. Gathering the courage and just doing it was a big step.

Earlier I drew the giant pumpkin that was growing in our backyard. Here is a photograph of the carved 92 pound vegetable. We did save some seeds and we'll see what happens next year. Yes, my farmer husband won the contest against his buddy.

Fabric Mandada

It seems that I am attracted to mandalas which are circle drawings representing the circle of life. I found this pattern in a magazine and I'm sure that they did not expect it to be made this way. The center sparkle is Angelina which is a polyester that is heated and melts to form the shape you desire. It also can be cut after being heat set. Beads were added. For all the bright quilts that I've made, I'm finding these quieter colors, very calm and pleasing. Only a little hand stitching, machine pieced and quilted.

Sketchcrawl

There was a sketchcrawl gathering in Davis, CA yesterday. I only managed to get one complete drawing done as there were other demands on my time. However, I needed to be grounded and drawing helped.

Zentangle moleskin finished

The zentangle moleskin is complete. The project started in April and I've finished in October. Since there was now time schedule, I was able to let the pages flow at their own pace.

This dot page almost looks like an animal. That was unintentional.

Yes, there is satisfaction at completing this project, but a certain emptiness lingers. I am constantly alerted to designs and want to keep up my awareness. My regular journal or another moleskin? Such great things to ponder.

Back to my routine

My trip to Ohio to see the grandkids was a non stop event. Below is one of the few quick sketches that I did in almost two weeks. Oliver, the three year old got sick and was lying on the sofa with a wet wash cloth on his head. 

The twins, however, did not slow down!

The girls had an "official" shopping trip with real money. 

Imagine-- they were quickly out of cash.

Now I'll get back to my slower art work routine.

By the way, on my son's computer I notice that there were three pictures of a recent quilt shown on my blog. Here, at home, there are only two. Don't mean to post too many. Sorry.

Computer problems such as two colors of type can trip me up.