What a thrill to see an iris blooming in April then I walk around the south side of the house and gasp to see a whole row of Iris blooming.

I got to sub in the elementary school library two days last week and found some wonderful picture books. One was Georgia in Hawaii when Georgia O'Keeffe painted what she pleased by Amy Novesky and illustrated by Yuyi Morales.
Georgia was commissioned to do a painting to promote the pineapple industry in Hawaii.  They had creative differences while she was there and she painted everything but a pineapple. She finally painted a pineapple after she returned to New York.
Another book was Art from the Heart about folk artist Clementine Hunter by Kathy Whitehead and illustrated by Shane W. Evans.  Clementine Hunter was born into slavery but later worked for an artist who hosted workshops and allowed Clementine to take art supplies that others left behind. Delightful bold primitive paintings. When Clementine had her first exhibit in a gallery in the 1950's she was not allowed in the front door, she saw her paintings after hours by entering the back door.

Never too old for picture books.    Ann

Change and Relearning

I wish I could say I have been on creative sabbatical for the past 2 weeks but my computer hard disc drive failed at least that is what the computer screen said it really crashed and I lost everything, everything, photos, documents, photos, all the fishing sites that my husband frequents. photos, vacation photos, family photos, blog photos, quilt photos, bookkeeping on Quicken, everything. On the bright side I did do a lot of sewing while I waited for a new hard drive which was installed in short order but then all stuff the computer has to do to get itself ready for use and install this and that and calls to computer wizards in India and calls that lasted over 140 minutes each.  and if hubby dear were taking care of it I would be sweeping bits of computer off the patio.  And now blogger changes how to do things!!!! I do not like change that is forced on me, not one little bit! and things are still not right but I am muddling through.  I finished machine quilting and binding Hummingbird II, another quilt made with fabrics from the early part of this century. doesn't that sound pretentious? I like my old technology that was all purchased last century. My Elna has  never given me any grief and once I taped the paper clip to the machine for a thread guide my Bernina has been on her best behavior.

Relearning again is that an oxymoron?!?  Ann

Have you tried these

 Have you tried these clips from Clover?  They are perfect for clothesline coil baskets!  I can clip the new strip of fabric to the cord to get started wrapping and fold and clip the rest of the strip into a manageable length then clip the end.  They are my new best friend in my sewing room.

Using up scraps,  Ann

Design Wall Monday

The pieces and blocks are sewn together and no one sneezed and blew everything off the wall! Now to decide how to quilt it. Do I want to swing an arc through each triangle to accentuate the pin wheels or do something artsy to accentuate the movement of the colors?
The song Morning has Broken was running through my head as I arranged the triangles. The dark triangles in the borders are the blackbirds in the song. The fabric is actually a very dark purple. The first chapter of Genesis was also running through my brain. God brought forth light from the void then separated the light from the darkness then separated the waters of the sky from the waters of the land, then gathered dry land and brought forth vegetation.
The finished blocks are 4 1/4 inches square. Quilt top measures 43 1/2 x 52 inches. I have enough deep blue for the binding and that is it.
Decisions decisions...........Ann 

link to Judy at patchworktimes
http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/04/09/design-wall-monday-april-9-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20PatchworkTimes%20%28Patchwork%20Times%20by%20Judy%20Laquidara%29

Morning has Broken

lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

Vegetable Dyed Eggs

 

It was a sad day when my kids were to big to dye Easter eggs. These are eggs that have survived a couple moves. At one time I had 12 dozen eggs  that I saved over the years all of them were blown. The reddish brown are from yellow onion skins, the blue are from red cabbage Yes blue. If you add vinegar to red cabbage it is a lovely magenta but the color doesn't stick to the egg....it turns blue. I wrapped celery leaves around the eggs and tied it with a square of cloth.  The light yellow is from turmeric. The pale pink is from beet root. I would getting things ready to dye while they were at school and more than once they came in the door and said "I sure hope that's not for supper, it doesn't smell very good." We used to bring a tree branch in the house and anchor it in a bucket with rocks and water then hang eggs on it. I t was always to fun to watch the buds open into leaves and flowers occasionally it would bloom for Easter.

Easter Blessing,   Ann

On the Wall

I made this several years ago, it was my first Dog Gone Quilts Pattern. I did this with a group of ladies and I probably would not have done it had it not been for the group. Cutting and pasting fusibles and raw edge applique was not my thing at the time. Peer pressure can be a good thing to get out on your comfort zone. I persevered and got all those little parts cut out and put back together. I extended the sun rays into the border. The machine quilting was so much fun. My rabbit eyes are a bit wonky but she is a dumb bunny. I had a hard time using black to quilt around the flowers but it does make them stand out.

Easter Blessings, Ann