I was recently surprised to receive email from the U.S. State Department's Art in Embassies program.  This program borrows art from artists, museums, etc. and installs them in the residences of American ambassadors all over the world.  Artists can apply to have their work considered, but I never got around to it.  However, the program found me!

The email asked for the loan of Lakeside Citrus, shown at right, for display in the ambassador's residence in Tallinn, Estonia. Fantastic! I've visited this quaint city and found it to be delightful.

Wondering where Estonia is? 
I did too, until a Scandinavian cruise took me there.  Estonia is on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea, just west of Russia.

I'm happy to loan this piece for the enjoyment of the ambassador's family, staff, and visitors, and hope it will help brighten the long dark Estonian winters.

I've posted photos of Tallinn and more info on Estonia in a blog post.

My new glued collage class is fast approaching. Called Sticky Fingers, the two-lesson class starts November 20, 2009.

The class project is a loose cruciform design. The possibilities are endless, with a few options shown below.

Glued collage is a very fun and fast technique. Once the design is composed, there's no need to quilt it, add a binding, etc. Plus, it's possible to work with tiny little bits of fabric that would be too small for easy stitching.

You'll find full class details here.

I've written about the process of creating the pink piece on my blog. (See August 26th entry and forward.)

Natural Progression

Black Eyed Susans were the inspiration for my latest quilt, shown above. It was made for an exhibit called Transformations, in which poets and artists have been paired for a loose collaboration. "My poet" and I decided to use the word transition as a springboard for our new work. Therefore, I included all the stages of these blossoms.

You can see a detail shot of this quilt, along with other information here. In addition, I've added quite a few posts about my process on my blog. (Posts start on September 12, 2009.)

I've recently learned about the roll of White Balance in photography. Wow, does it make a difference! You can learn a little about it, as well as some other photography tips from Paula Furgason, in her article Ready, Aim, Shoot. Check out the article here.

The quilt at left is called Fantasty Flower Garden, created by
Nancy Willamson.

Nancy created this piece in my recent Design Your Own Nature Quilt class. In doing so, she really embraced the class motto, "Be inspired by your photo, not owned by it." Nancy started with a nice garden photo, showing a patch of yellow flowers, among other things. After cropping the image very closely, she focused on just the flowers, and the interesting line of foliage near them. As she got more and more creative, Nancy changed the color of the flowers and incorporated a wide variety of plaids, polka-dots, and other prints. This variety makes the piece very lighthearted and engagin.

Nancy's not alone, however. All the students worked outside their comfort zones and achieved exciting results. You can see additional new examples of students' work in the Design Your Own Nature Quilt Student Gallery.

There are several other new things on the website and blog. Be sure to check the sidebar on the right for the latest updates.

- Brevard county, FL, TV appearances Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m., Nov. 9 at 8 p.m., Nov. 11 at 7:30 pm, cable channel 49
- New Smyrna Beach, FL, November 18, Pelican Piecemakers' Quilt Guild

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