Christmas Day

Well, I knew you wouldn't believe it until you saw it! Even Bruce says he figures there aren't that many quilter/hunters out there.

On Christmas afternoon Jeff, Bruce's brother, took us pheasant hunting up on Haleakala, with my nephew, Keoni. It was a beautiful day - cool and a little cloudy, just perfect for the rough hiking.

Keoni took this picture of Bruce and me while we took a short break in one of the ravines we had to cross.




We only saw a total of four birds - two roosters and two hens - and Keoni was positioned to get the roosters. They were long shots but he got them like a pro.

Here is a picture of the guys with De-Man. He is an awesome dog and it was neat to watch him work. He was doing his job and having a great time.




Is this a picture of a happy dog, or what?


I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas.

Best wishes for a happy new year, too!

DELISH!

We tried this Sparkling Ginger Cocktail for a dinner party on Tuesday, and it was great! It's featured in the December issue of Gourmet magazine.

I've never tried Prosecco before, so when I saw this I thought it would be fun. The ginger syrup adds a nice, refreshing zing to the drink. The recipe says it makes enough for 10 cocktails, but we actually came out around 8. So if you are making this for a party, plan accordingly.

Finding Prosecco on Maui was a challenge, because it's not available at any of the local grocery stores. Asking for it only resulted in blank stares. I lucked out, though, at Hawaii Liquor Superstore in Kahului! When a man approached me and asked if I needed help finding something, I asked him for it and I thought he said, "We have Port." I said, uh, no, "It's a sparkling Italian wine." He laughed and said, "Yes, I have four." Oh. I guess I need my hearing checked! He was very helpful and went on to explain the highlights of the four he had in stock. When I said it was for a cocktail, he said to go with the least expensive since the ginger would overpower some of the more delicate nuances.

I'm looking forward to trying them all by themselves in the future.

Paying it Forward

I caught this on Susie Monday's blog and the giving spirit is growing on me, so I'm offering this:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (Actually, you will receive mine before the end of February!)

When you leave your comment, please also do one of two things: leave your post address or e-mail it to me.

I will send small textile hand-made-by-me gifts to the first 3 people that leave a comment requesting to receive the gift and are willing to continue the Pay it Forward tradition on their blog.

Christmas with All the Trimmings

I am going to make THIS for our tree next year. Scroll down Kristy's "Two Lime Leaves" blog and check out her peppermint yo-yo garland. I think it's darling. I KNEW I'd find a reason to buy that damn yo-yo maker after all.

Oh, right. In my spare time. Turns out there probably won't be much of that next year. Looks like 2008 is filling up already!

Mischief Afoot

There are some interesting goings-on around here! I can't reveal them right now, but will in the next week or so.

Besides, what would the holidays be without a surprise to mull?

Quilting Arts Magazines for Sale

I'm taking a cue from Robin and selling my collection of Quilting Arts Magazines on eBay (click to take you to the listing).

Since I work in such a small area, I am constantly moving stuff around. Well, I'm tired of moving this stuff! I've got a collection of art, quilting and fiber books for sale on Amazon.com (see post below), and a fabric/fiber collection for sale, too (see previous post).

If you're interested in adding to your collection of Quilting Arts Magazine, this is a great way to do it!

Gorgeous Jewels for Your Next Project - SOLD

I am cleaning out my studio this weekend in preparation for the new year (be sure to see my other items for sale at Amazon.com in the previous post). This is the fabric and yarns/fibers I chose for my class with Carol Taylor, but I'm not in love with the project. The next best thing (I thought) would be to offer this grouping for sale. There are 18-9"x11" squares (approximate), three skeins of gorgeous hand dyed fibers, and a set of 1" strips in coordinating colors.

Penny, I see a fabulous project in your future!

Quilting Books for Sale

I cleaned out my studio this morning and have several things to sell. I've listed a huge pile of art, quilting and fiber related books on Amazon.com in my storefront:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/index.html?ie=UTF8&sellerID=AAFONPXQR6Z6E

On most of the listings I am the lowest price seller. Check it out and see if there's something on YOUR wish list!!

Here's an alphabetical listing of titles:

• Artists Journals & Sketchbooks (Perrella)
  
• Beading on Fabric (Van Horn)
  
• Collage for the Soul (Harrison & Grasdal)
• Collage Sourcebook (Quarry)
• Creative Correspondence (Jacobs)
  
• Creative Habit (Tharp)
• Diamond Quilts & Beyond (Krentz)
  
• Everyday Matters (Gregory)
  
• Fusing Fabric (Beal)
• Mixed Media Explorations (Taylor)
• Pieced Curves So Simple (Fleming)
• Thinking Outside the Box (Cummings)
• Thread Magic (Eddy - original Fiber Studio Press edition)
• Twelve Secrets of Highly Creative Women (McMeekin)
• When Quilters Gather (McDowell)
  
• What Color is Your Slipcover (Daikeler)

Thanks for checking it out!

More From Art Quilt Tahoe

One of the best things about taking a class from Carol Taylor is that you get to work a lot on value. This is an area that is so important, and one I don't think anyone can get too much of!

This is the start of one of our class projects, with my fabrics sorted out. I eventually added more of the very dark fabrics on the left and refined the other piles as I went. Not every fabric here made it into the quilt. I moved away from the blue accents (like the fabric at the bottom of the second pile from the left), and more into the purples, which I loved with the browns and blacks.

You basically work from light to dark as you go along. Here's a snapshot of the start with the lights into the medium lights.

I think I mentioned it in a previous post, but this whole process really makes me want to reorganize my fabric according to value. I know I have real gaps in the very lights and very darks (like most quilters do). And since my work requires good value emphasis to be effective, I think it would be helpful. The only real problem I face with the reorganization is that I really don't have the room to spread out and do a good job with it. That and the fact that it would probably take me at least 2 weeks of valuable studio time to do it.

More lights into mediums and medium-darks. Although this quilt is fairly small (about 18"x54") it is a long process to get the value placement correct. As a class, we took most of a day to get our pieces in place on the foundation.

Here's a look with the third and fourth pieces, nearly finished. After I had the four base pieces up, I went back and added a lot of accent pieces to further enhance the look of the quilt.

I started my couching in class on the last day, and have about half of it completed. I need to get it finished this month, since I am giving a PowerPoint presentation at our guild meeting next month on my experience at Art Quilt Tahoe and I want to have the projects there for everyone to see.

If you have a chance to take a class with Carol Taylor, grab it. She is an inspiring, patient and knowledgeable teacher who will encourage you to make your best effort!

Stormy Weather

And I'm not kidding! We are getting some heavy rain and wind up to 60+ mph. We are huddled at work waiting for it to pass. Power is out on most of the island and ours has been flickering.

See the red? That's over our head right now. Looks like we have a flash flood warning in effect until 12:00 p.m. today.

We're waiting it out. Look out Big Island!

BINGO! Wins!

Remember when I posted about working with the book "On the Surface"? Well, this was the project I was working on at the time.

The theme for Art Quilt Tahoe's challenge this year was B-9, or Be Nine, or Benign, as it was their 9th anniversary. As soon as I heard the theme, I immediately thought of BINGO!

The title of this quilt is "B9=BINGO! Everybody Wins at Art Quilt Tahoe." The background checkerboard is woven and embellished with silver, black and red decorative threads. I stamped the BINGO card and the red markers are hand painted stainless steel washers. I couldn't find round clear glass or plastic markers, so I improvised based on a suggestion from my friend Joan. Thanks, Joan!

I had to Google BINGO to find out what the correct number layout was - in case you are wondering, it's 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 45-60, and 61-75. Did you know that the mathematician who developed the bingo cards actually went crazy?

My quilt won first place and $100 in the challenge at AQT!