Preparing Supper for Sheila

From an old photo of my Mother peeling potatoes while my next younger sister Sheila watches with her dolly ...

... I tweaked it with a photo filter and printed it on fabric and ...

... and quilted it for a piece of fiber art. Sheila is delighted!

Preparing Supper -- 8"X11"

Linking to Nina Maria's "Off the Wall Friday."

Pinocchio

Our local quilt guild is making a quilt, just for fun, with blocks depicting Fairy Tales or Mother Goose rhymes. I chose Pinocchio for my block.

I made copies to use as templates from a coloring book type image. I used this technique with some of our grandchildren that you can see HERE.

Each piece was cut out and fused to the black background.

Progress

I tried this background but liked the checkerboard best.

Pinocchio - 12"x12" finished and ready to be turned in.

Linking to Nina Maria's "Off the Wall Friday."
and Sarah's "Can I Get a Whoop Whoop."

My Mother, Margaret Heatwole

I'm over the moon and my head is spinning. Today I was notified that my art quilt "My Mother, Margaret Heatwole" is accepted into the exhibit "The Power of Women" for the Houston Quilt Show this November. It measures 24"X72." I posted a few pictures on a recent post HERE.

Detail

This picture didn't make it into the quilt. It depicts Father & Mother at their fabric store, 'The ClothesLine' where they sold Bernina sewing machines. Both Mother & Father were Bernina mechanics.

I couldn't find a picture of Mother with her school bus; but she drove for Rockingham County Schools for over 20 years.

This is the picture of Mother when she was 11 years old that I used to make the large outline of her. She is posing with her Daddy & Mother, William & Mary Wenger and her only sister Aunt Elizabeth in the very bottom right picture on the quilt.

 

Snapshots capture moments in time, and when stitched together, reveal a life of quiet determination built upon the solid foundations of faith and family. “My Mother, Margaret Heatwole” celebrates 93 years of adventure, from milking cows to flying in her son’s homebuilt airplane. The outline figure over the collage is from a photo of 11-year-old Margaret with her parents, before her father was killed in a tragic logging accident. This heartbreaking lesson about life’s brevity and the importance of making the most of every opportunity shaped Margaret’s choices for the rest of her life. She and her husband, Oren, spent their lives instilling in their children the importance of family. They raised seven daughters and one son on a tight budget. To supplement the family’s income, Mother embarked on an artistic career, painting and selling landscapes of the familiar Virginia countryside. While she diligently taught important life skills to her children, including sewing, gardening, reading, food preservation, and frugality, she also sparked their future passions. Two of her daughters are nationally recognized fiber artists and quilters. In the words of King Lemuel, writer of Proverbs 31: “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:  Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. … a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” Julia Graber created this quilt by scanning photos, applying a filter in a photo editing software to create a united color palette, and printing the images onto cotton fabric. 

Parting Shot -- another picture that didn't make it into the quilt.

Can you believe this is Mother & Father? ............. It is.

 

Linking to Kelly's 'Needle & Thread Thursday.'
Nina Maria's 'Off the Wall Friday.'

Fiber Art -- Weeping Willows

I'm again participating the the SAQA Benefit Auction. My piece "Willow V" will be up for bid Sept. 14 - 23, 2018.

This is the 5th willow piece that I've made. You can see some of my process HERE.

This is my first willow which I made for a challenge 'green/sorrow' that measures 8"X11" and is still available for $125. Sold

I made this piece "Willow IV" for the Fresh Faces exhibit and it is till available.

Fresh Faces, New Ideas

Quilt Challenge

PAAQT sponsored the Fresh Faces, New Ideas challenge to continue support of The National Quilt Museum, and to showcase new and upcoming talent within the quilt world. This year’s theme is thread embellishment. These quilts will travel for a year and will be auctioned at The National Quilt Museum’s auction at the AQS QuiltWeek – Spring Paducah 2019.

This willow was made for the 2016 SAQA Benefit Auction. It's already sold.

This one called "Weeping for Home," measures 20"X25", depicting Psalm 137 and is available for $650.

These last three pieces are depictions of my original works. They measure 8"X11" and are mounted on black mat board.

$75

$75 - SOLD

$75

Louisville, Kentucky

On the way home from Ohio we stopped in Louisville, KY and found "The Big Bat." It is an exact scale replica made by specifications requested by Babe Ruth in the 1920's.

The height is 120 ft. and the diameter is 9 ft.

Facts about the bat are on this plaque in the sidewalk.

It weighs 68,000 lbs. and was installed in 1995.

Paul and I also walked about halfway over the Ohio River on The Big Four Bridge.

It used to be a railroad bridge and now is part of a park for the city.

View of Louisville, KY.

And then it was homeward bound!