My quilt, Mr. and Mrs., is finally complete. Here’s a detail shot. This quilt is about my parents. There were married 66 years. My dad was a hard-working farmer and my mom did the book work and cared for four children. Although not prone to romantic gestures, they were devoted to one another. Their complementary roles resulted…
Maybe you’re familiar with the fiber art of Jill Kerttula. She’s known for her realistic scenes and rich textural techniques. I recently got to meet up with her to see her exhibit in Charlottesville, VA. We were greeted by this fabulous piece, Crowd of Strangers. And that’s Jill standing with it. Most of the pavement in the…
My brother has recently undertaken quite a project. He’s fixing up an old home that’s on a farm he purchased. Here it is, Mountain Glen. We don’t know the age. We think mid-late 1800s. It’s located in the middle of pastures and fields, with lovely views. This is the view from the front porch. And…
Y’all, I am SO fortunate to be part of the Dirty Dozen Fiber Artists. This group of women is not only artistically talented, but great friends! What a blessing to each of us. Here’s most of the gang viewing our current exhibit. Can you tell we’re having fun? Our group is mostly about making art,…
While in Siena, we stayed in a lovely inn. This was the view (on a rainy day.) It was very early spring and things were just beginning to bloom. This photo is looking back at the building. We had our fanciest meal in Siena. We think our table was located in an old wine cellar….
Siena is a small medieval town in the heart of Tuscany. The city center is maintained to look the way it did in the 1300’s. It’s very picturesque (or, it would be, if seen on a sunny day. It was rainy and overcast for us.) The piazza and the town hall tower are the center…
My current quilt is progressing along nicely, (but slowly.) I spent a LOT of time piecing the background and was quite happy with it. But, I wanted to tie the background of angular shapes into the design more. Since I planned to use large circular shapes in the foreground I thought skinny circles in the…
I’ve been wanting to do a series of quilts about my family. I made the first one, Happy Family, which used circles to represent people. With that one the circles were an 11th hour addition. For the next one I wanted to be much more intentional. After selecting green for the background of my current quilt it…
For my latest quilt I envisioned an interesting green background with vibrantly colored circles in the foreground. I got to work on the background with my usual technique of auditioning fabrics and designing as I went along. I chose green, because I had A LOT of green fabric. Plus, I had a theme idea that…
When you go antiquing in Virginia you’re very likely to find items related to the Civil War. Such was the case at J.S. Mosby Antiques and Artifacts in Orange, VA, where these period uniforms were displayed just inside the door. The owner, Stephen Sylvia, is an expert on military weapons. Here, he was showing us…