Hello,

I really fell we are moving out of the depths of winter as the days grow longer.  I was awakened this morning and the golden pink light of dawn was spreading across the quilt.  I

wear glasses and so when I looked at the window to see the sky I not only saw the beautiful color, but also the fuzzy dark  lines of the maple branches against that sky.   It is oh so wonderful to wake up in light again.  I watched the color of the sky change from that golden pink to pure gold and then lighten to a lemon hue to pale blue before I moved from the soft warmth of the bed clothes.  The sky has changed over the course of the day and now is a velvet gray with snow falling again.  I still feel pleasantly pleased when I think of the color of the dawn of today and know there will be more coming.

This week I went to the Turquoise Street Studio on Friday and played with my pals.  The others all worked in pastels, but they include me any way.  I really like the atmosphere and I do get work done.   I am still playing with gesso on fabric, felt and cardboard this time.   I was  thinking that I could add the felt or cardboard on top of the Gear shift quilt in a fashion similar to what Barbara was doing with her paintings- but that did not work.    I will use them on cards or something else.   I never feel anything is a loss when one is exploring and playing with ideas.     I also put in a little time creating some small works for the Six By Six project.  That is a show where you make small works that are all six inches square and sell for $20.00 each.     I did a little fusing for this project- something that I have not been doing much of lately.  It is a great way to explore and use little bits of fabric as well as  little bits of time.

Progress Report: Gear Shift
I am in the middle of quilting this piece now.  I left the circles that I am using as templates pinned to the surface to show how I do them.   For smaller circles and little shapes I cut the shape into a old photo- that way I can see exactly where the stitches are going.  For the bigger shapes I cut the circle and pin it so I can see the area around the out side of the shape.  I use this same method for any irregular shape I am quilting.

Growing Up
I was feeling the gray snowy effects of winter the day I started this work.  I am quilting it using the growth lines as my starting points and filling the surface with the nobs of new growth at the end of the lines.  I am sure I will finish this quilt this week.

Blue Fuse
This is a detail of more of the hand work I am doing on this top.  I am trying new stitches and keeping the color limited on this one.

Purple Trees 

I am still struggling with this work.   This shot is what I greeted me on the pin wall this morning.  The last work or yesterday.  I really only like the tree on the far right and feel that I may abandon the other two and start for that point.     I think it is important to show my failures as well as my successes because they happen to everyone.

The Tide Is In
This is a top that  I came out of my frustration with the tree  work. I often play when things are not going well.   I also wanted to use some of the felt gessoed fabric and the some that I had painted on Friday at the studio.  

Scrap Happy  Project

This is the sot of the blocks for the Scrap Happy Quilt I am working on for the TV Auction our local Public station does every spring.   The big colored areas show the center of the roman strip of the block.  There will be two different row patterns using an alternating lay out.   So there is not top of bottom to this quilt I will turn the second row in the opposite direction when I put them together.  I do enjoy making these quilts.

Keep Creating

Hugs

Carol

PS –  sorry- I though I pushed the publish button on Thur and only when I checked today did I catch my mistake.   I will try to stay on top of things.