The wrap-up from the PNQE show

I recieved my quilt and my ribbon almost two days after the show closed, so that was incredibly fast and efficient. My quilt arrived in perfect condition, and that was a huge relief.
I also received my judging sheet, and my judge comments were all positive.
Just the other day I received the last portion of the PNQE entry, my check for the cash prize.
And with that, my first quilt show entry is complete. I have to say I'd do it again.

Now, if my muse would just come back, I'd get to work on my next show entry. I have some ideas but the design is still not yet in my grasp. I've had 2 weekends in a row without much quilting work at all, and no inspiration either. Next week I will be at a show for work, and afterward I'll have a long time before any other trips, so I hope my muse comes back from her vacation refreshed.

"Tired always came after Sick"

How do I begin? Well, the stress of the last week trying to prepare for Grammie's open house took it's toll in the form of "airplane/travel head cold". Monday morning I felt like total you-know-what. But I had to get the things I needed to get done out of the way, like mowing, and laundry, and a doctor's appt. Doctor's appt leads to further test being needed. Yay. More to think about.

On Tuesday, still feeling bad, I learned of the death of a good friend, Amrita Sunita Board Dowd. Oh, how can I even explain this? Rita had her lovely son Daschel on April 3rd, and something was still not right. After tests, Rita had a very rare and aggressive cancer. She passed with family and friends Monday May 11th. Rita always made me laugh and I will really miss her.

Today, it's all hitting me at once. I'm tired and sick, and really down in the dumps. I miss Grammie and Rita, the cats are not getting along, and my "big" quilt is slipping away into UFO project status, and it needs to be hung May 22nd, but I don't know if I will have time to finish it... Too much for me to think about now. I have to focus on getting well and then the quilt.

Away for a minute, but I'm back...

My unexpected abscence from the world was due to the untimely death of my husband's grandmother, Hilda Ely. "Grammie" shared a love for needle arts with me, and she was an avid cross stitcher and knitter. She crocheted, and made a quilt or two in her life. She encouraged my quilting, bought my first quilting frame, and I brought a couple of quilts to her to tie in the family tradition with family and family friends. Those were good times. I'll miss her, and her creativity. Somewhere are cross stitched tea cups she made for me to make into a wall hanging quilt for my dining room, I'll have to make that soon.
Because we had to unexpectedly fly out of state for her memorial, I haven't had time to get my weekly quilts posted. I hope to by the end of the week!

Back to back injury- time to crochet!

Ha ha....sorry for the pun, though I'm not really laughing. Yesterday proved to be a stressful morning, and my back seized up after being OK for a couple of weeks. My allergies seem to be in overdrive today, and I am very stuffed up. I'm exhausted from stress, injury, and antihistamines.

In times like these, I crochet. I think this is one of the first kind of fiber arts I did. I was taught to crochet by a nun named Laverne who lived on my block. I grew up in Calumet Park, IL. This nun brought all of us kids on Ada St into her home almost daily and let us do crafts, color, and otherwise keep us off the streets. She taught me how to crochet, just one stitch, the single crochet. Laverne passed away not too long after teaching me, and my grandmother would not let us go to her funeral. I eventually taught myself the rest of the stitches, years later. I have never made a large crochet project, but plenty of small things.

When I am laid up like this, I usually crochet because it's easy and I can do it and watch TV at the same time. The past couple of weeks before getting back into the sewing room I made lots of washcloths from cotton yarn I got on sale at Michaels. Now I'm thinking of making some socks...

This 'n That

I'm glad to be back home, and there's a lot to be done. My back finally feels better, so I have a "back"log of work to do. The house needs to be cleaned, laundry needs to be done, and the yard work is about to start.

My Fiber Art Divas group is going to have a show at the Naperville Art League in May, which I am very excited about! It means I can finally finish "The Road to Home", the "big" quilt I am working on. With a goal in mind, maybe it will get finished.

I bought new slippers, which were desperately needed since if my feet are cold I am cold. I found them in the clearance section for $5! I've wondered how I can salvage the old slipper parts to make new ones or recycled ones, but it's more work than it's worth. It's why I don't make my own clothes.

My Yo Yo Flower class went really well, and I hope to teach it elsewhere if I can.

IQA Chicago is coming up and I'm getting excited. Should be a lot of fun!!!

I plan to finish up my March theme this weekend, and work on some ATCs. I am going to an ATC retreat in Indiana in June, so I have to get a bunch of stuff done before then to have "stock" to trade with.

Walking in Memphis

By the time you read this, I'll be in Memphis TN for the comic book industry job I have. Be there through Sunday. Missing my brother's birthday and my sister's candle party...

My back is not fully recovered so no sewing has happened in the studio. Lots of reading and crocheting, but little sewing. The ideas are building up, and the big IQA show in Chicago is looming with all kinds of ideas and classes to take and money to spend there...

I am teaching my Fiber Art Divas group how to make the Yo Yo Flowers (sorry for those of you still waiting on the pattern). I'll let you know how it goes. This is just coming off of teaching it as a half hour demo at the Riverwalk Quilt Guild's Gathering show.

I have a project to take with me on the plane, but we'll see how much gets done. I may just nap instead.

In the meantime, I submitted one of my sad February quilts for a "ghost for a ghost" project over on Astulabee's Blog and Flickr page. Go check it out!

What I did on my Winter Break...

Picture heavy!

Our tree, with my gifts under it.

Bastet, doing what I did on vacation, lounging around.
One of my Art Quilt Workbook exercises, finally done.
The project from the workshop presented by Rosalie Dace, called "Close Up". This is some bacteria magnified a bazillion times.
My version of "close up" was Pomegranate seeds.
And the Cloth, Paper, Scissors article on making these snowmen was just too cute to pass up. The bottles are small plastic shampoo bottles from all of the hotels I went to and used up this year. I pulled these bottles out of the trash thinking they would be good for beads or pins, and found a better use for them. I recycled!

More to come! Lots of cool stuff coming up!

Getting back to normal

I know I have been away for a bit. I know I said I would run a giveaway last week, but life intervened. I've been dealing with a family crisis for a couple of weeks now, both in a "hands-on, getting things taken care of" way, and a "why can't I think about anything else" kind of way.
I did take some time to go to Judy Coates Perez's wonderful Fiesta Ornaments class this past weekend, and it was great fun. You can read about it on both Judy's blog, and my friend Catherine's blog too. I really like taking classes with my friends, and Judy is a great teacher.

I plan to run the giveaway next week, just in time for the holiday spirit, of which I could use some. The tree is up, but not decorated other than lights, and I don't have much energy to get it done.

Tonight I spent hours winding a box full of tangled embroidery threads onto floss card bobbins... Just could not do much else that required thinking. I also spent an hour cleaning my studio, which has not really recovered from the weekend class supply "grab" and coming back from Baltimore. I did finally remove the suitcase out of the room... Shows how behind I am on everything.

For something quilty, the above is a custom Spencerian script that was made of my name and turned into a rubber stamp. It was made by Victorian Trading Co., whom I love and have been using to slowly decorate my front "parlor". I plan to use the stamp on the labels of my quilts using permanent stamp pad ink.

My next few posts will show all the STUFF I have made lately, I think you'll like it.

You know you're old when...

Getting a cold seems to sap the life out of you... I have a major cold and it's really doing a number on me. I had the flu this year also. I never used to get sick when I worked in an office, and now that I work from home I get sick all the time! The worst part about being sick right now is that I had lots of things planned for this weekend and now I know I won't get much of them done because I feel so awful.

I have a lot of updates coming, and a lot of projects planned before the year is out. I hope i can get to them in time. I know you will love the October themed weekly quilts when I get time to scan and upload them, they are really really cute.

I can remember when I would get a cold and be over it in 2 days. Now, not so much...

Feeling like Death

Or "death warmed over". Ick. I have the flu, and it's horrible and nasty. I ache like I have never ached before, and my throat is on fire. At work, we joke about having "daggers in my throat" which some poor soul called in with once as his excuse for not coming in. But I really feel tiny daggers, or needles, or what-not, in my throat...
I'm sure I caught the plague from travelling so much, and the recent trip to Vegas. Ugh. So tired. Yes, mom....I went to the doctor, and yes, mom.... I have been resting, and eating.
Anyway, I haven't scanned the last couple of quilts, which I hope to do tomorrow. I hope to be somewhat vertical by tomorrow too.
And to top it off, we got water in our basement from the Chicagoland are flood ing that is going on. I haven't been able to help the hubby witht he clean up because I'm so sick. When it rains....

Crossroads or Crisis?

I often think about my art work in the "why" sense. Or I should say the "where is this all going?" sense.
Lately, many things have come up that have made me consider selling my art. Should I do it or not? In one case, the local farmer's market invited me to join them, but I had no inventory to speak of to sell, and no tent, and no supplies, and in the end I think I made the right decision. I often get asked if I make my small weekly quilts to sell. Well, no. They are too personal to sell. I then think about patterns. "Oh, I'll make patterns and sell them til the cows come home" and think about funding my hobby with the income. Right. Somehow, the art is still to great an emotional investment to part with. I haven't found the price I would be willing to be paid to part with it (unless I was making it for a gift). So no selling for me.

I then thought at the beginning of this year that maybe I was meant to enter contests, and make art to show in that arena. I can't seem to find the time to work on the project in enough time. The deadline approaches (or passes) and I'm not ready, or the work is very not ready. This was tough, because I wanted to "get out there" and "be seen" and "make a name for myself". But if I work full time, how can I meet the deadlines? I love my career, but want to be an "artist" too. After several attempts at entries into shows this year, without any real success at getting the ENTRY done, I'm going to put this off until I have a year with a little less travel and more free time. I'm not giving up, just delaying a bit.

So that brings me back to "Where is this whole thing headed?" Why do I make quilts? Why am I making this art? It's not to give away, it's not to sell or turn into patterns, it's not for a contest. It's for me. Why does being an artist need to be for one of those reasons? I fi said I did it because I like it, it would be half truthful. It feels like there is much more to it than that, but I can't put my finger on what.

I'm 35 years old. This hobby of mine has an average age of about 55-ish, so I have 20 years to perfect this craft of mine and get to a point of being comfortable with this in my mind. I'm not the first or the last who will go through this, but it kind of sucks when it's happening to you.

No, I haven't fallen off the planet...

I'd love to think you're siting there wondering "Gee, where in the heck is Cheryl? She hasn't posted on her blog in a while." Ok, that's what I hope you are doing.
Well, I got called into the home office suddenly, to work on the big project. (The points of data are not making a beautiful line.)
So, when I get back home, I'll have a big update for you, including this and last week's weekly quilt, and last month's journal shrine quilt. I also have an art doll to show (I know! Shocker!) I will also have results from 2 online classes I am taking to further my quilt art.
So I will update on the weekend when I get home. I am planning to run a little contest soon too. So much fun to be had!

International Quilt Festival Chicago- Day 4

Well, it's over.
I got up this morning to SNOW. Isn't it supposed to be Spring?? Ugh. Off I drive to the show.
I get there a bit early, so I look to drop my stuff off in class to find that the teacher needs a "Teacher's Pet". Since I am first to come to the class, I get to be the one to do it if I want. Sure, why not? I am a sucker for volunteer jobs. This class is taught by Barb Broshous and we are making long stem 3-D roses. They are gorgeous on a quilt. She mainly does dimensional flowers so this is right up my alley. I thought this was a hand sewing class, but to my surprise, there are very expensive Huskvarna Viking machines in the room. The class was fun, and small, only 10 of us, which was a nice change of pace. I had a good time, and Barb is a kind and patient teacher.
I could barely bring myself to go to the show floor again, I was so tired. But I made it through the last of the journal quilts.
I was stopped by Pokey Bolton for a few words, as she folded her beutiful fabrics she just bought. (Yes, she stopped me to say hello. OMG!PONIES!!1!) I also stopped by to say hi to Frieda Anderson, who took my photo and said she would put it on her blog, as I am an avid reader of hers. We took Judy Perez's class together a while back, so it was good to see her again. Her work is so nice, and her dyed fabrics are wonderfully bright. I also met a wonderful fiber collage artist named Lynn Krawczyk, who was so nice, and showed me some of her wool purchases, into which she plans to make evil plushies, once she saw my Uglidoll on my bag. She was very cool, and her work is so cool in person.
I met up with two of my "Fiber Divas" guild members, and shopped at a few booths with them. But after stumbling around the last few places, I decided it was time to go.
I'd like to invite anyone I met along the way to comment or email me to stay in touch!!

International Quilt Festival Chicago -Day 3

This morning came bright and early and I was off to the show before you know it. Traffic to the show was much lighter, though it has not stopped raining. I get there and parkin a good spot in the garage. It's 8:20 am.

I head to the Education Office because I am the "Teacher's Pet" for this morning's class on foiling on fabric. Tricia, our instructor, doesn't like the term "teacher's pet" so I was the classrom "cat". Despite the upsetting events at the end of the class (see previous post for the long winded story), I did enjoy the class very much, and Tricia was wonderful and I enjoyed her presence very much. She is a reverend and a spiritual healer, and I think her energy in this area helped me get over what happened and be able to get on with my day. I helped clean up and returned my materials to the education office and recieved my pin for a job well done.

As I walked to the show, I was in shock over how many people seemed to be pouring in. It was amazing. But, there is also a fashion accessory show going on int he same hall as the quilt show, so many of these folks were there for that. I can only imagine what parking was like after 10 am when both shows opened...
Anyway, once I was in, it was not as bad as I had thought. The quilt area was populated about like so:

So, I was able to the entire quilt area in about 2 hours, except for the small journal quilts, which I am saving for tomorrow. I read a lot of the current 2007 journal quilt artist's statements, so that took the longest. While there are amazing works in the show, it seemed like there are fewer than before, and I mean about the larger works, the bed sized quilts, as it were. Could be my perception though.
I ran into a fellow guild member in the bathroom, of all places.

I ate some lunch and walked to floor a bit more too. The floor was not as jam packed as I expected, so either a lot of people were eating lunch, or the busses of tour groups had left. It mainly looked like this:

I ran into Bonnie McCaffery again. I met Beryl Taylor at the Quilting Arts booth. At this point, I resume my aisle walking and complete the circuit. I shop again at a few booths that I wanted to go back to, but for the most part, my shopping excusion is done. In a separate post, I will do Show and Tell of my shopping treasures. The floor was still frustratingly slow paced, especially when the folks in front of you stop abruptly because something caught their eye. I found a seat and people watched for quite a while, but in the end decided to cut out before the floor closed in order to do some errands at home. While I sat there, I came up with new show floor rules:

1. Like driving, walk on the right side of the aisle, and let the people on the left flow in the other direction. You slow everyone down by "swimming upstream".

2. If you see something in a booth that catches your eye, be courteous to the people behind you and step into that booth and out of the flow of traffic.

3. This should be a given, but do not take pictures of the quilts at the booths. Ugh.

4. While some bumping is inevitable, there's no reson to be intentional.

5. Say "excuse me" if you want to get past someone, and acknowlege someone else's plea to be excused in some way that lets them know you heard them.

So those are my rules. There could be so many others, but this would help immensely.

International Quilt Festival Chicago -Day 2

Driving in to the show this morning was tough, because last night seemed so very very late.

My first class of the day was about making Quilting a business, which I took as an exploration, possibly to sell my quilts eventually, but aslo to explore some ideas on reaching quilters on the internet, and some web tools our industry is missing that I know of from the comic book industry (like show floor blogging and interviews... maybe next year). Morna Golletz was our teacher in this class and I learned a great deal.

Next, the show floor... again a glutton for punishment. However, the vendors area was PACKED. On Friday. And just at about noon! So about 10 steps into the show I meet up with new friends from my Riverwalk Guild. We decide to eat lunch. Yum!

Fueled for the afternoon, I spend a good bit of time in the vendors area again as best as I can manage, often getting bumped and pushed and elbowed. While I love the vendors area, I also hate it. Tomorrow will be a good example of why, and I will take photos.

I stopped at the Quilting Arts booth area to see the artists in "residence" doing on floor demos of various techniques. I spoke again with Judy Coates Perez, whos is so very nice, and chatted a bit about her painted works. I also spoke with Kelli Perkins, who was so kind to explain her work and was so inspiring also. I also chatted with Pokey Bolton again about the embellishing machine she was demo-ing. And I saw a paint on fabric technique by Julaine Lofquist-Birch which used dried on shaving cream.

I shopped the next couple of hours and No, I still haven't walked the whole vendor area yet. I started at lane 900, and ended at lane 1400. Tomorrow and Sunday I will do the rest. Tomorrow will be mostly quilts, after my show. At this point, I am being bumped so often, I cannot stand it any more. I buy those thirsty towels on an impulse. I walk past Alex Anderson, whose line has died down. I briefly consider going back to tell her how much I love her podcasts.

Now, I scheduled classes back in January as soon as the classes opened. I did not know that the Friday night class I took would interfere with the Tiara Parade and QuiltArt Reception. Oh noes! Class starts at 6pm, reception at 5pm.

So I decide to go to the reception for an hour. I even made a tiara. In the food line, I finally MEET Bonnie McCaffery, tell her how I missed her yesterday, and she is a lovely person. I also meet Virginia Spiegel! She is also lovely. I met lots of QuiltArt list "readers" and "contributors" and I am so sorry if I can't remember all of your names right now. But the one I enjoy immensely is speaking with Karey Bresenhan. I told her how much fun I was having at the show and thanked her so very much for holding the reception. I saw so many other quilters I would have loved to say hello to. Sadly, before the tiara parade, I had to leave for my class, as I did not want to upset my teacher by barging in late. So I left, but before I did, I had one quick photo taken of me as proof.

My class was by Tricia Spitzmueller on Tyvek manipulation. This was a fun class, and it was again very good to sit down. Here are my class projects!

Thus the long rainy drive back home and looking forward to another class and more show on Day 3!!