Great Fishing for SAQA

This is my 2017 donation piece for the SAQA Benefit Auction.

I'm calling it "Great Fishing." See how that fish has been enticed by the lure?

It measures 12"X12".

Here's a detail shot for you to see the quilting stitches up close.

The back is signed and has a 2" hanging sleeve.

So, how did I make this piece? Here are some of the steps I took. I marked a grid on the background fabric on the left and cut out patches from the fused fabric on the right.

Next I cut out square patches from the fused fabric and laid them onto the background fabric.

More patches cut out and laid onto the background fabric a little at a time.

Now the patches can be pressed down and ...

... the piece is trimmed and ready to be layered with batting and a backing.

I chose Superior's Fantastico thread ...

... for the horizontal quilting.

This is the fun part.

Just about finished with quilting the background.

I cut out pieces of black Kona Cotton with fusible on it and arranged the pieces to form the fish.

After some modifications; I quilted the black with an orange thread.

And then I decided to add more and more orange thread. My black fish turned into a gold fish.

Linking to "Off the Wall Friday."

A Visit With Mother in Virginia

Life ...

It's been so nice to have Dustin & Gina with us for a little while. And Tina, Talya, and Georgi think so too.

We had a Sunday lunch invitation to Darren & Becky Knepp's place. The children sure enjoyed the battery operated car. "Come on Ashton, give us a push!"

Becky fixed us a Belizean meal and made her own soft tacos. Delicious!

And now I get to spend some time in Virginia with Mother. She loves working with her flowers. I can tell by the whistle/hum of "Do Not Pass Me By" that she is happy.

She has a beautiful view of North River out her living room windows and loves to feed the birds and watch the ducks, geese, and wildlife. Today she saw 5 deer crossing the river down at the ripples.

I took her up the river to see the tree house that my nephew Josh Helmuth is building. It's going to be an Airbnb and is quite cozy and will be a beautiful place to stay.

"Patches" Workshop

I just love these small pieces of fiber art that were made by my students in my "Patches" workshop.

East to Home

Our road trip continued east with a stop at Meteor Crater near Flagstaff, AZ ...

... and then through Winslow to ...

... Holbrook, AZ for the night.

We enjoyed the cars and ...

... trucks of yesteryear.

This cute little camper caught Paul's attention.

I wanted to spend the night in one of the Tee Pees next to an old car; but Paul thought otherwise!

Coming on East we stopped outside of Amarillo, TX at the Cadillac Ranch, where we did a little graffiti ...

... and enjoyed a park in Wichita Falls, TX ...

... and on to my sister Emily & Perry's place for 2 nights.

The creativity in her sewing room is marvelous.

While the men worked on Perry's pickup truck, Emily took me around.

I helped her stuff envelopes for their concrete business and then ...

... we went to some thrift shops and on to one of her friends who quilts.

And now it's home again. Our 20 year shingles did pretty good holding up for 18 years.