Anne Huskey-Lockard went to Heaven today. One more beauty in the flower bed of Heaven. Anne was known to so many of us on the Fiber Pirate list as Queen Punk Anne. She would gladly hoist a grog, swear like the proverbial sailor, take on a Tea Party troll and tear him apart, and create some of the most beautiful, most meaningful art. She loved her “budgies,” created a gorgeous book on her little friend Milo, and chatted us up all the time via Facebook.

I’m quite the introvert, and Facebook has enabled me to come out of my shell and meet and chat with folks all around the world. I never would have met Anne otherwise. She helped set up our Art from the Heart site after the January 8 shootings in Tucson. She created a beautiful work of art for the site that you can see here. She collected everything for her mixed media; she was asking about slide mounts one day on Fiber Pirates, and I mentioned I was cleaning out my slides – I ended up sending her about 300 mounts for unknown projects. She got my blue high school sweater, washed and shrunk it, loved the fact that it was Maple Leaf colors, and proceeded to make slippers out of it.

We would talk over how to make our Zazzle and Cafe Press shops profitable; Anne at least had some really cool stuff to sell, all based on her artwork. We shared our many liberal ideas, all via Internet. Anne was like a close friend you never met in person.

No more gorgeous sunrise photos, no more glorious flowers. No more tales of the budgies. No more travels with the John Deere, dressed in Doc Martins. No more memories and jazz from New Orleans. No more great Halloween photos.

But Anne had faith, a really strong, steadfast faith. She knew she would continue life on another plane. She found a new calling in creating liturgical garments – absolute beauty to celebrate the Lord. Now she is no doubt asking God for the John Deere to maneuver those clouds into some semblance of order, raising a glass when she’s done, and looking after all of us.

Dearest Anne, I will miss you.

Linda and Milo

We will be in Cottonwood, Arizona the end of October at Quilter’s Quarters – a really great quilt shop! We’re teaching two marbling classes – beginning and advanced, and two free motion quilting classes, also beginning and advanced. Contact Quilter’s Quarters for more information!

Beginning Marbling

4 hours, $50.00 class fee, supply fee $25.00

            (minimum 5 students, maximum 10)

            Learn the ancient art of marbling by creating cotton fabrics using traditional marbling patterns. You will learn 5 basic patterns (stone, freeform, chevron, nonpareil, bouquet) and create pieces of marbled cotton suitable for a small sampler. This class is an overview of the process, using existing supplies, with fabric that is already prepared for you.

Supply Fee: $25.00

1/3 yard pima cotton, 1yard Offray ribbon, carrageenan, alum, paints, combs, brushes,  drying racks, soda ash, pins, toothpicks

Student Needs to Supply:

cookie tray or roaster pan (at least 10 inches in width, and a half-inch in depth),

sheets of newspaper (no color) for drying fabric, notebook for notes and diagrams, ruler  and pencil, rags/paper towels, small plastic tub for carrying wet fabrics,   gloves

Wear old clothes!

Advanced Marbling

4 hours, $40.00  class fee, supply fee $25.00         

(minimum 5 students, maximum 10)

Learn the recipes needed for the carrageenan bath and pretreatments. Make the combs and rakes you will to marble any time you wish. Learn advanced marbling patterns (wave, clamshell, wing, feathers, cable, fountain, cascade) and experiment with paint and pattern on cotton and silk.

Supply Fee: $25.00

1/2 yard pima cotton, carrageenan, alum, 1/2 yard 10 mm silk, paints, combs, brushes, drying racks, soda ash, balsa wood, popsicle sticks, box cutter, awl

Student Needs to Supply:

cookie tray or roaster pan (at least 10 inches in width, and a half-inch in depth),

sheets of newspaper (no color) for drying fabric, notebook for notes and diagrams, ruler  and pencil, rags/paper towels, small plastic tub for carrying wet fabrics, gloves, masking tape (at least 1 inch wide, wider is better), Elmer’s glue, straight pins and/or t-pins (no glass heads), rubber bands

Wear old clothes!

Beginning Free Motion Quilting

4 hours, $40.00

Now what? Your quilt top is done…send it out or quilt it yourself? You can free-motion your own quilt top, no fancy domestic or long-arm machine needed! You CAN do it all yourself – it just takes some practice! From thread choice, basic supplies, setting up your machine, to learning basic FMQ patterns, you will learn the happy sounds of your machine as you practice five basic patterns on a fat-quarter sandwich: straight lines (without a ruler or sewing foot), various size stipples, pebbles, and a leaf/vine shape.

You supply:

sewing machine in working order, ability to lower feed dogs, instruction manual

free-motion (or darning) foot

#80 or 90 machine needles

a selection of threads, from “old and cheap” to “fancy and expensive”

low-loft cotton batting in fat quarter size

4 fat quarters, one for the top and one for the bottom of two quilt sandwiches (not  fancy fabrics, just for practice, and muslin is fine)

scissors

scrap paper and pencil or pen

marking tools (fabric marker or chalk)

optional: finished quilt top for design ideas

optional: a machine extension table

Moving Ahead with Your FMQ Skills – Creating a Whole Cloth Quilt

8 hours, $80.00 (1 hour break for lunch)

The sewing machine is working, and you’ve started stippling away on your quilt top, but you’re getting bored. Now is the time for new free motion quilting patterns. Yes – you can do feathers…and spirals…and gridded patterns…and leaves and grapes…and cathedral windows. Once you’ve practiced these now patterns, you will create a small whole cloth quilt, showcasing your skills. Experiment with bobbin work, and create a stencil of your own.

You supply:

sewing machine in working order, ability to lower feed dogs

free-motion (or darning) foot

#80 or 90 machine needles

a selection of threads, from “old and cheap” to “fancy and expensive”

low-loft cotton batting in fat quarter size

4 fat quarters, one for the top and one for the bottom of two quilt sandwiches (not fancy fabrics, just for practice, and muslin is fine)

scissors, mat, rotary cutter, and ruler

scrap paper and pencil or pen

marking tools

a “top” for your whole cloth quilt, at least FQ size, but larger if you desire; choose a fabric that can add texture to your design but not overwhelm it

batting and backing for your whole quilt

optional: a machine extension table

So all my intentions of posting each day went by the wayside. I opted for pictures on Facebook at the end of a day. My ipad, while gret for reservations and a lot of other business things, just didn’t work easily for writing a blog. Here’s what we ended up doing….in a nutshell, ’cause there’s more to come.

Denver to Des Moines – LOTS of corn in Nebraska, a little hillier in Iowa. Great weather!

Des Moines to Milwaukee – downtown was filled with Summerfest and music all over. Great trip on the lake.

Milwaukee to St. Ignace, MI, on the Upper Peninsula – nice travel on back roads along the north shore of Lake Michigan. LKots of peaceful stops along the water.

Through Flint, MI (raining) through Canada, to miss the Detroit traffic, back through the Lower Niagara border crossing – a nightmare!

Down through Lake Cayuga in the Finger Lakes area of New York, lunch in Ithaca, and leisurely back roads to Oneonta, including an ice cream stand with….wait for it….kahlua creemees.

Oneonta up to Hartwick College, talking with admissions and alumni, saw a deer munching on flowers right by Breesee Hall. Talked to a favorite professor, and then over to Bennington, with a stay in Rutland.

Up to Jericho and Underhill, Vermont, to stay with friends for a week. Lots of fun, including the Ben and Jerry’s factory tour.

Down to Mystic, CT for a day at Mystic Seaport. Much more to see another time, including the sub museum and aquarium.

Over to Morefar in New York, where my grandparents were caretakers and I spent lots of weekends growing up. Was taken on a tour by an employee who started when my grandmother still worked there.

Down to Stratford, NJ to see the old homestead for first through 10th grade. The people who bought from my parents still live there.

Gettysburg, Harper’s Ferry, and Antietam, for a trip through history.

A gorgeous day on Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park to Roanoke.

Through Virginia, West Virginia, and into Kentucky, on the way to Paducah and the National Quilt Museum. Lexington horse farms were gorgeous.

Thinking we would take I-70 home, went up to St. Louis, and then weather sent us across to Kansas City and down to Oklahoma City and Route 40.

Across 40 to just outside Albuquerque, stopping because of severe rains in Albuquerque…..

…and home.

This doesn’t even begin to do the trip justice! Lots to see on the next trip, which will be in May 2015, as we move back east permanently. We had great weather and survived the humidity admirable!

If you caught my Facebook post yesterday, you heard the story of the horrendous borde crossing at Niagara.

Oy, one for the travel nightmares. Awoke to a beautiful morning on the Upper Peninsula, great views as we went across the Macinac Bridge, lots of green forests…..and then…..yea, verily, on the eighth day it rained…and rained…but we drove out of it. Our plan was to go to Flint and then east through Canada to avoid going through Detroit….same mileage essentially…..but then the border crossing south of Niagra Falls…..three and one-half hours from end to end…and I am NOT exaggerating…..construction on Canadian side, two to one to. two and back again to one lane that hardly moved. Finally could see booths, and that was just the Canadian side…..an absolute crawl over the bridge (and I am ot fond of bridges…freaking out, thinking how I would escape if the bridge broke)…and then more single lane to two lanes to three lanes to four lanes…NONE of which moved. Oy….probably not going too far tomorrow until we recoup…..eating dinner at 8:30 PM, which is unheard of for us…and it’s still light out. Must be karma paying us back for a great yesterday………

Here are a few shots of crossing on the Mackinac Bridge.
Crossing Lake Michigan

Mackinac Bridge

..and the beginning of the traffic at the border crossing….

Border crossing

Now  back to the art museum…

A fabulous sculpture outside the museum…can just see loads of kids climbing on it!

Another outside sculpture…reminds me of one in Tucson, near the downtown public library.

There were two coral sculptures inside the exhibit. This is one of them, talking about coral being the indicators of the health of a reef. This is all crochet….. The Branched Anemone Garden, Margaret and Christine Wertheim.

Kathryn Spence uses “dirty, discarded pieces to indicate the invasion of the natural environment by human-produced garbage.”

Leonardo Drew – “Number 162 is made from raw materials (wood, metal, paint, thumbtacks, paper, ink, graphite) that are manipulated and aged to suggest the passage of time and the cyclical nature of our existence.”

Yet another gorgeous day! We were so worried about all the rain and tornadoes, but I’m thinking we’ve brought the good weather with us! We left Des Moines, gorgeous morning, and finally crossed the Mississippi. There is something mythic about this mighty river and it’s division of the country. Every time we cross the Continental Divide, I think about the water that flows to the Mississippi. And the gateway to the westward movement, with all its pros and cons. And Mark Twain, whose many books I have read. I always feel like I am entering or leaving a different country. The day was quiet, and very relaxing…Iowa is certainly “heartland.”

Illinois just seemed soft and green, lots of farms, not nearly the amount of sprinkle systems that we saw in Nebraska. It is SO NICE to see rivers with water in them! And I must say, Iowa has some of the nicest roadside stops!

We traveled through Illinois, past Regan’s  birthplace, into Wisconsin, and finally to Milwaukee. We weren’t  sure we’d head this far north, but I have always wanted to visit this city. Tomorrow we are doing a boat cruise around the lake and river.

Here’s a few shots from today.

A whole rest area devoted to quilting!

Iowa rest area – patchwork. locks

Even the brickwork…..

The little picnic areas are identified by patchwork.

We noticed in Illinois that the mile markers were in fractions…one-quart, half, and three-quarter.  Very cool…I’d like to know why….in Wisconsin the markers were in two-tenths….also cool!

Mile markers!

Tomorrow on the water!

We left Denver at 5:30 am, with the intent to get to Omaha a d potentially see an elementary school friend. Despite an unexpected tour of the Denver Airport (huge and confusing), we headed on our way to Nebraska. What a great drive….flat, once we were out of Colorado, lots of grass, loads of farming, and a LOT of corn!  Small farms, large farms, lots of small towns. We’ve had great weather…one  of the concerns we had about getting across the Plains.

Saw my first dandelion at the Colorado Welcome Center, right before we crossed into Nebraska. Also, it was a stop for the Pony Express. So much history as we cross the country, and lots of friendly folks. We followed the Platte River for a while, and I kept thinking about the great documentary about Lewis and Clarke, done by Ken Burns. We got to Omaha, but couldn’t find a motel, so we ended up in Des Moines…nice little city.

We crossed the Missouri River and the terrain changed….hilly all over.  Plus, every bit of land was taken up with corn and hay, to the extent of terracing hills to plant more corn. Iowa was much more beautiful than I had imagined. and Des Moines is lovely.

So we have decided to head tomorrow to Milwaukee for a few days….so many things to do in that city! Here’s a few shots from today…and more on the art  museum when my brain is not fried from directions…..

My first dandelion on the trip…

Lots of lilies…reminds me of our last trip east – they were all over.

The Pony Express statue…

The Platte River has such historical significance….

What an amazing day…fabulous way to spend my birthday! We navigated morning traffic into the center of Denver and enjoyed waiting for the museum to open – glorious blue skies and a very nice breeze….certainly not 112! Here are some shots of the outside of the museum and surrounding areas.

No cactus….just lots of glorious flowers!

Great area outside of the museum…skateboarding, fountains, children playing.

Great sculpture…instructions to viewers include Do’s and Don’ts….no fondling the broom, among others…..

There was so much to see, and there are. number of artists I’ve never heard of and need to explore further. I have heard of El Anatsui, and to see one of his pieces in person is nothing short of A.MA.ZING.

The piece is titled “Rain Has No Father?” and is made of flattened metal bottle caps. He flattened and then stitched the metals together, transforming what is normally a stiff material into something that appears soft and pliable. You can find more images here. (Actually, I can’t do a link, so go to Google images and check him out.)

That’s all for now….it’s really frustrating doing this on the ipad… may need to get an actual keyboard! More on the museum to come.

Wonderful  scenery today, and lots of pleasant thoughts, including some rain. In fact, humidity is now 38% and about 70 degrees….absolutely gorgeous. Northern New Mexico is really beautiful, with vistas from high desert to almost deserted plains. We left Santa Fe  (dew on the car windows….) and headed east, through Glorieta and the Pecos National Historic Park. I’d post my own pictures, but major problems trying to get pictures to work….

Lots of great green pines, small towns, streams with actual water in them. We headed through Las Vegas, NM through to Raton, and the landscape kept changing around every turn. The clouds mixed with sun, and there were so many layers to the clouds – you felt like you could reach out and touch the bottom layers. And then you are out into what appears to be “nothingness,” but is really just empty, gorgeous vistas.

Looking east -quick video of the landscape. If you listen carefully, you can hear a marvelous bird.

Looking west – same spot but looking to the west.

We  first went to Denver in the early 80’s, and things have really changed. Pueblo was just a small sleepy town that handled printing and distribution of all the government pamphlets. Not any more…manufacturing, new developments, and very spread out. Same for Colorado Springs…huge, and well spread out on the east side of the Interstate. And the traffic in Denver…oy. But we are in Denver to see the textile show at the art museum tomorrow.

When we went east three years ago, it had been 15 years since seeing all of our old haunts. I was taking pictures of green grass, dandelions….so many little things. Well, same thing today….

 Dew on the car….

Gorgeous rest area in Colorado….great grass!

Always on the look for tree bark….

To the art museum tomorrow!

Finally…we opened the garage door and drove out this morning at exactly 5  AM. Just as we wanted to do. We’ve been planning this trip since January, and this last month we made lists of everything we wanted to do on the trip, had to finish before we left, and where we wanted to go on the trip.

Right now we are in Santa Fe, destination for the first night. It is considerably cooler, three hours after we arrived…how nice to be cool for the first time in a month! We started with our usual egg salad in Lordsburg, NM, and took our shortcut to I-25 through Albuquerque. Dry dry desert. The only green was along the Rio Grande. There are times when you can get quite tired of brown, scrub, and heat.

We are still in area we know, and most of tomorrow’s drive will be familiar. We will see what’s going on with the fires around Colorado Springs. Not sure if we’ll explore that area around the motel…depends on how tired we are.

So now I will see just how tough it is to load pictures!

This is an interview with Rachel Biel, the founding mama and guiding light of The Textile and Fiber Art List. Barbara Harms interviewed Rachel about this amazing journey in creating TAFA. Check out her website, with some glorious work. This interview is from Barbara’s blog.

Defining the woman behind TAFA. An interview with Rachel Biel.

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this interview with Rachel Biel. She is the founder of TAFA [http://www.tafalist.com ], a fiber artist, a business woman and a innovator. Rachel is interesting, informed and candid. Rachel  has a lot to say that you’re going to be interested in hearing.

#1-What first interested you in fiber art?  How did that lead to a career in that field?

I’ve always enjoyed making things. My parents both kept themselves busy with projects that were utilitarian, but creative. I learned how to embroider when I was around 12, taking classes with a scary old lady down in Brazil who was a master embroiderer. Even though I didn’t much like her,  I loved the threads and what could be done with them. In my 20′s, I started making hats and bags from fabric I found at thrift stores, then became interested in quilts. I continue to explore stitching in different ways, but would not consider this my career. For twenty years I worked with handicrafts from the world, selling them through various enterprises in Chicago and then online. My primary interest all along has been in the economic  development potential that crafts have in contributing to a more sustainable and beautiful way of living. I would like to see artists, villages, and people in general have the option to choose a handmade and green lifestyle and be able to have their needs met while they do it.  I finally focused on textiles for practical reasons: easy to ship and store, not breakable, etc. I buy vintage textiles and re-sell them online, figuring that if they don’t sell, I can always use them in something I make. This path has been a winding, wonderful process of discovery!

# 2- Your resume shows a long history in the field of fiber art. Are there any highlights  which stand out in your mind? 

I am fascinated by the use of found materials, of the conversation between traditional and contemporary, of  building bridges between cultures and people. Textiles are such a tactile and personal expression of who we are and I am constantly inspired by what I see. I also believe in the healing  component that comes  from doing anything with your hands, whether it is gardening, sewing, turning wood, spinning clay on a wheel. We have removed ourselves from the creative process and become sick as a society. Art can heal us.

# 3- Do you recall any decision or choice you made or choice you made which changed the of your life or career?

Yes, the decision to become self-employed when I was 28 removed the security net under my feet. I have been without health insurance since  [ I’m 50 now ] and often financially stressed. This is something so many of us struggle with and  it  has definitely affected my life. In the beginning, I thought it was my choice. About eight years ago, I tried to get back into  the regular work force and found that there are only entry-level  jobs available to me. I was forced to look at my skills and find a way to carve out my own niche. I was able to do that, but it’s a daunting task.

# 4- Do you have any advice for a person who wants to pursue a career as a fiber artist? 

You have to be passionate about anything in the arts in order to make a living at it.  Competition is fierce. It takes quite a bit of discipline to produce work, document it, market it and then sell it.  I enjoyed the process of making  more than selling what I create, so I have other skills to support my lifestyle: launching TAFA, providing technical assistance, and re-selling the vintage textiles.  Last year I focused on learning how to use WordPress and have since been helping other artists update or launch their websites. So, for a beginner, my suggestion would be to develop a second set of skills that can help earn some money and be ready to have a long wait to succeed as an artist. There are two reasons that I see this: it takes time to build a body of work, to experiment, to find the muse, and it takes time to develop the skills that will define the work. Other advice : don’t copy what’s already out there. Find your own voice. There are millions making the same things or similar things and it is only by being “original ” that you will stand out. We are all “stealing” from the past, nothing is new under the sun,  and yet we live in a fascinating time when the old is reinterpreted into something unique.

# 5- In pursuing a career as a fiber artist, you have needed to develop into a strong business woman. Do you have any advice for women who  find themselves in similar circumstances and goals?

Learn some basic business skills. Take a workshop, research online…There are tons of resources out there. Make a 5-year business plan, You don’t have to stick to it, but it will help you to get an idea of where you are headed and what you need to do to get there. Learn to use some social media platforms. My favorite is Facebook. Not the personal pages, but the business ones where you can really build a network of people who are interested in what you are doing.

#6- -What five words would you use to describe yourself?

Visionary, persistent, calm, flexible, overwhelmed

# 7- What do you feel is your greatest strength and greatest flaw?

Greatest strength: ability to take risks. Greatest flaw: too stuck in my comfort zone.

# 8- You may be most recognized  as the founder and dynamic force behind TAFA. What was the  inspiration that led you to found TAFA?

Tafa is the result of years of trying to figure out how to access markets for my stuff, working with small importers who had the same needs and seeing artists struggle to get their work seen. When social media started to take off, I kept bumping into the same people, all trying to do this as well. One example is Susan Sorrell from Creative Chick Studios [   http://www.tafalist.com/members/creative-chick-studios ]. Everywhere I went, there she was, ahead of me. She seemed so savvy and knowledgeable. I  figured if we all banded together and drove people to the same place, it would be easier to be found. My mantra has been “Together we can do great things.”

# 9-What did you hope to accomplish in creating TAFA?  Do you feel that is has been successful in accomplishing it?

The # 1 goal is “Markets for Members” and that hasn’t really happened yet. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed that more members don’t blow TAFA’s horn,   but it takes a while to build an organization and as they start seeing  the results, I am confident that they will jump in and be more vocal about what we have. There is a core group that is active and vocal about what we have successfully accomplished, is sharing tips, insights and supporting each other.The collective knowledge is amazing and it’s a consistent source of learning and inspiration for me.

#10-TAFA is  culturally diverse representing over 30 different  countries . Was it your intention to provide an avenue for  economically  challenged artisans to sell their work, improving their  economic situation? If so, can you tell us anything how  TAFA   became involved?

We’re actually up to 44 countries now and I have made it a priority from the beginning to have an international focus. One of my goals has been  to build a bridge between the ethnic textiles and the contemporary ones. We all face technological challenges and it’s even more difficult for those who don’t have an infrastructure in place to sell their products effectively. For example , PayPal is not active in most African countries and many postal systems are unreliable and a mess. So, many places need intermediaries who can speak up for them or help them access those tools. The world economy has changed dramatically in the last ten years and the United States is no longer a stable economy that can support the arts like it used to.  As other emerging economies begin to have more disposable income, they also begin to show an interest in the handmade lifestyle.  So, for me. it’s not  only about giving the Guatemalan weaver a shared platform with the weaver in Santa Fe, but it’s also about giving the New York quilter  a possible audience in Russia or Japan. We’re not there yet, but it’s something to think about and watch.

#11-You have seen this organization grow in a relatively short time to include  many members,  including  nationally recognized fiber artists. Does this growth level meet your expectations?

I feel very proud of what has been done so far, but I long for the day when it will truly become an organization. Several members help out with routine tasks which helps a lot, but we really need  to reach the point where we have an actual staff with salaries and jobs.

# 12-What do you foresee in the future for TAFA ? Any long term goals?

My long term goal for TAFA  is to get it to onto a stable financial footing, shape it’s organizational structure, and then spin it off to the members. It will be an S-corporation and members will be able to buy shares and own it. I intend to see it reach a point where we can truly provide services, technical, financial assistance, and fulfill our mission of helping our members to sell their products. I believe that  this will take another five years to get there, but you never know! It could happen a lot faster! In my mind, I see a huge website with thousands of members, and then a core group that helps define the programming and needs of the larger membership. We don’t know where the world will be in 10 years. When you think about it, ten years ago we didn’t have Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or so many things we take for granted. So, we need to be flexible, be alert and and respond appropriately. I envision local hubs becoming active where members can support each other on a local level, having international conferences with business workshops, having traveling  exhibits or a couple of brick and mortar retail store,or having our own online shopping venueand so on. It will  be exciting to see how it grows, morphs, and becomes it’s own reality!

TAFA ROCKS!

http://www.rayela.com

http://www.rayela.etsy.com

www.tafalist.com

I belong to the online group Art Quilts Around the World, and we have just posted our last challenge, Out of Asia. My piece came out really well, and we pick it up from the framer tomorrow. It just had to be stretched and matted, and if it comes out like we think, it will be spectacular. Here’s the story behind “Ode to Hokusai: DragonFlight.”

This was an interesting challenge. I knew the fabric I wanted to use almost immediately the topic was announced. This was a piece of cotton lame’ that we marbled about 10 years ago. It read Asian to me as soon as I rinsed it out, and it went into the “save” pile for some time in the future for when I could figure out what to do with it. I have done a couple of pieces of cotton lame’, one  of which is on the website – green cotton lame’ called Rainforest. I wanted to do more, because of the properties of lame’, but is seems in the last ten years that formulas have changed, and there seem to be a lot more additives to the fabric. My last attempt at lame’ didn’t work well at all……

So this is the piece that sat on the design wall for six weeks.

 I knew I couldn’t cut it, even though it is slightly smaller on one side and larger on the other from our group sizes. I just couldn’t cut it………so I figured I would just quilt the lines to accent the wave, reminiscent of “The Great Wave” by Hokusai – one of those pieces of artwork I easily recognize every time I see it. It’s almost like I planned that wave, when the whole piece really was an experimentation with a different comb (literally, a small hair comb for teasing the hair).

So I started on the center section, figuring I wold just accent the lines of that wave. Normally I would have pulled out black silk thread, since I really just wanted texture, but the dark green (Silk Kimono by Superior) kept calling my name. It is so subtle, but what it did was soften the black in the design – which I liked. Who knew? And with the light on it – it’s perfect.

I loved it when it was done – so much of a great wave, you could almost match it up with the master! So I kept looking at it and pondering where I would go from there……how much more would get quilted?

Serendipity struck, in the form of hubby the other marbling artist…who took one look and said, “I thought you were doing a wave? This is an amazing dragon. ” From then on the dragon was the overall image I saw every time I looked at the piece, so I just had to listen and figure out the next steps.

There is some very light blue within the colors, so I chose a blue silk Kimono thread to accent the blue, sort of like glistening dragon wings (too much Anne McCaffrey and Pern….). Then I wanted to do more quilting in the background to accent the idea of flight, so I went with a pale orange silk Kimono, just for wind and/or wave ripples. I ripped out a few lines because it just seemed like too much. Finally I just said “done,” because it seemed to have everything it needed. It is at Michaels right now getting stretched on foam core and a 2-inch black mat, as it said “I want to be framed.”

Above all, I listen…..

You can see other fabulous pieces here.

I’ve been retired now for two years. Last year on the one-year anniversary I took a look at what I accomplished for the year. I was afraid of looking back on retirement and not seeing anything to show for it. So I tracked everything this year. The last four months have been pretty fallow, as I struggled with some personal issues, but I feel like I am finally reclaiming myself. All in all, I had a pretty productive year.

SAQA quilt submitted to major show

SAQA auction quilt submission

continued blogging

Tried out Tophatter, gave it up after some really obnoxious feedback from an a-hole, who actually burned my quilt

Newsletters for 10 out of 12 months

Wrote a dozen blogs for Handmadeology

Remade hubby’s blue quilt

Participated in the free motion quilting challenge through the end of the year

Yoga instruction throughout the year, including pretty regular daily practice

Completed two more table runners for Momma Betty

Completed Stepping Stones table runner

Completed “Clammin’,” a small art quilt up on Etsy

Completed pattern and two samples for the table runner pattern

Sold “DesertScapes”

Machine-quilted the Forest quilt

Machine-quilted two bed-stand table-toppers and one dresser scarf

Worked at stocking and marketing the Etsy store

Took a Quilt University class with Elizabeth Barton

Finished Spring Wall Hanging

Guest post on Craft Gossip

Finished makeover of small Christmas quilt

Pictures in Martha Stewart Weddings, Spring issue

Quilted Ali’s green picture

Participated in three challenges for Art Quilts Around the World

Took two Craftsy classes

Joined Galleribba online gallery

Potentialgallery  representation starting fall 2013 in Tubac

Participated in StashFest again this year for the La Conner Quilt Museum

Submissions for three books, one accepted, the other as an ebook

Green and purple whole cloth quilts completed

Started commission of 7 quilted chakras, finished Root chakra

Completed two bed-stand table toppers and one long dresses scarf

Accepted into the juried Faculty/Staff art show for The Art Institute of Tucson

There are probably a couple more, but the mind has been kind of blank. It’s nice to have this list, so I know I accomplished a lot! Now I have to start the new one for year three.

Well, it’s only taken about three months to get back to the blog, but I have been saving some great stuff, mostly pretty light-hearted. Here goes:

The Atlantic has a great series on photos from World War Two. Here’s a peak at women during the war, of all races and ethnicities.

Members of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) pose at Camp Shanks, New York, before leaving from New York Port of Embarkation on Feb. 2, 1945. The women are with the first contingent of Black American WACs to go overseas for the war effort From left to right are, kneeling: Pvt. Rose Stone; Pvt. Virginia Blake; and Pfc. Marie B. Gillisspie. Second row: Pvt. Genevieve Marshall; T/5 Fanny L. Talbert; and Cpl. Callie K. Smith. Third row: Pvt. Gladys Schuster Carter; T/4 Evelyn C. Martin; and Pfc. Theodora Palmer. (AP Photo)

From The Smithsonian, a look at the role of artists during World War Two.

Artists in World War Two

TimeLapse from Time Magazine and Google presents a look at various places around the planet and how they have changed. Check out what is happening to our planet.

TIME and Space | By Jeffrey Kluger

Spacecraft and telescopes are not built by people interested in what’s going on at home. Rockets fly in one direction: up. Telescopes point in one direction: out. Of all the cosmic bodies studied in the long history of astronomy and space travel, the one that got the least attention was the one that ought to matter most to us—Earth.

That changed when NASA created the Landsat program, a series of satellites that would perpetually orbit our planet, looking not out but down. Surveillance spacecraft had done that before, of course, but they paid attention only to military or tactical sites. Landsat was a notable exception, built not for spycraft but for public monitoring of how the human species was altering the surface of the planet. Two generations, eight satellites and millions of pictures later, the space agency, along with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has accumulated a stunning catalog of images that, when riffled through and stitched together, create a high-definition slide show of our rapidly changing Earth. TIME is proud to host the public unveiling of these images from orbit, which for the first time date all the way back to 1984.

From AllMyFaves comes a new look at piano lessons – could be intriguing! Looks to be an interesting app….

Really cool video from Vimeo on reactions from astronauts on their trips into space.

You know I love flashmobs – here’s a cool new one! Rembrant – who knew?

I’d forgotten about saving this next one – Anderson Cooper Show doing a take-off an America’s Got Talent – the Speed Painter. Well worth your two minutes!

 The Shanghai World Expo Closing Ceremony…..amazing colors, graphics, movement…..those “chairs” aren’t really chairs……

Wonderful act from Vegas!

And finally, from Tastefully Offensive, comes People vs. Winter….since in some places in this country winter hasn’t left……

I published this last Memorial Day, and I thought I would add a few notes and some new links.

Memorial Day, 2013. We are still at war in Afghanistan. North Korea is making noise, and I’m not sure we are getting the full story. The Arab Spring is having interesting consequences, and we are yet to see it play out. More and more we hear about veterans’ benefits being cut. I watched the Memorial Day Concert on the Washington Mall last night and was once again angry at the needless loss of life and wounding of so many young people. Calling them Wounded Warriors (which they undoubtedly are) just sounds like a slogan for marketing. Call me a pessimist, but I see this title as one more strategy to pull as away from where it really counts: stopping wars altogether.

Thanks to Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, we are looking at the suffering made on the Homefront. They have done great work, acknowledging those who also serve. If you watched the audience shots last night, you saw the wounded women. We still have not recognized the role women have played in our wars.

I think about the endless years ahead for our wounded men and women. Couple that with cuts to benefits, and I get very angry. Saying “thank you” with a concert doesn’t help the suicide rate of veterans, even with an 800 number to call a crisis line. After wiping away the tears from the presentation by Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinese, I started wishing yet again for trials of George W and his cronies for crimes against humanity. I know “freedom isn’t free,” but there must be another way to peace.

Here are a few links I found for this year’s remembrance.

Remembering the Women Who Also Gave Their Lives

And a piece from the remarkable Howard Zinn: Whom Will We Honor Memorial Day? Thirty-seven years old and just as applicable – and controversial – today.

I miss you, Daddy – every day for 38 years. You were so young.
Memorial Day, 2012. It’s Memorial Day, and I always think about my dad, Eugene R. Lemke, who served in the Merchant Marine during World War 2. He lied about his age, as many young men did, in order to fight. He never said much, and I just have some pictures of his travels to the Mid-East and India. When he read Alistair MacLean’s HMS Ulysses, he admitted that he had been on the Archangel-Murmansk run. He got his GED after the war and picked up classes over the years in insurance. He died 37 years ago, in his 40’s. One year for Christmas, I sent money in his name to the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC.

I’ve always remembered Memorial Day. I would be the only one standing when the flag went by. I would place flowers on graves. To me it’s always been about sacrifice, never about sales and picnics. I miss the parades – only one in Tucson, and that’s on the way west side of the city.

In the early 1070s my students in Hawaii wanted to celebrate a World Peace Day, which we set for April 28, 1972. The Pacific and Asian Affairs Council chapter worked for most of the year, with me taking care of scut work, based on what they wanted to do. I never had any idea I would get called a Communist so much, or be followed because of advocating for peace. Quite the eye-opener for naive me….who would have thought peace would be so controversial? Thirty-seven years later we’re still at war…. It’s a very strange world….

My father-in-law trained pilots in India to fly over the hump. Last year I read a book about the China-Burma theater that was an eye-opener. Talk about a theater of war that had no support, and so many untold stories of heroism. My mother’s second husband was in the Pacific with the First Cavalry, just ahead of MacArthur.  One of my good memories of him is taking me through the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia and talking about the campaigns. He was First Cav to his dying day at 92, this last November. My dad’s best friend was in a tank  in France. They’re all gone, and the stories are fading fast also.

This 70th anniversary of Bataan and Corregidor brought many stories back to us. Our veterans from World War II are dying off. And our new veterans are facing horrible injuries that would have killed them in earlier wars. They’re facing cut-backs in veteran’s benefits, problems with jobs, high suicide rates. War should never be the answer without exploring all options beforehand. And for those who served and who now choose to serve, we need to be there for them, regardless.

Having visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial, I found this extremely moving.

And finally, a quote (one of many from The 25 Best Reasons to Stop Sending Our Soldiers to War):

         “Make wars unprofitable and you make them impossible.” ~~A. Philip Randolph, leader in the civil rights and labor movements

Spring has finally come to the desert. It was a very brown winter season, but I certainly know how fortunate we have been, compared to the rest of the country! Here are some pics from our latest trip to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. Color galore!