Good Hair Day!

I think she needs a dye job... Redhead it is!

She's got some issues...

... But all in all coming along nicely!

...

Here she comes!

Pick and Choose

Narrowing down my color selection...

And it begins...

"The Meeting" a quilt I have been brainstorming and buying fabric for, for almost three years now begins TODAY!!!!

Life with Autism

People often ask me what it's like having a daughter with autism... Well here is a perfect example... I often find my kid in very strange locations... Today it was 5 1/2 feet up inside the closet... Just chillin'

This Stuff Smells Good!

4 Quilts in 2 Weeks!... Part 2

A week before I had to bang out the Hazelwild quilts I was preparing for a dear friends baby shower. Her theme was Safari Animals (CUTE!)... with sports (NOT SO CUTE!) I figured I'd make a simple quilt with a baby safari animal, minus the sports of course. I decided a giraffe would be fun and began looking for references. While searching I came across some beautiful photos of mother giraffes and their babies... I especially like this one =)

This photo really got me to thinking... My friend had suffered from infertility for many years. She had gone through so much heartache, stress and expense to finally be blessed with a baby of her own. I decided that a simple baby quilt would not be good enough. I wanted to make her something very special that really conveyed how important this moment in her life was... and as is typical I decided this a WEEK before the baby shower! 

I may not have been sewing much in the last 6 months but I was still buying fabric obsessively! It didn't take long for me to find just the right pieces in my massive stash! 

And my new place has a nice big area for me to work in =) ... plus a giant walk in closet, my own little slice of heaven! 

I had a lot of fun with this piece, especially all the little spots! However sewing around all those little bits was not nearly as much fun... 

In the end I was very pleased with the outcome even if I wish I had given myself more time. Doing something special for a friend really made me feel good. And while I don't feel I am healed from the events I have recently been through it does feel great to finally be buried up to my ankles in stabilizer once again! 

4 Quilts in 2 Weeks!

I wouldn't consider myself a procrastinator, it just seems that my best ideas always come at the very last minute. Cadence has recently begun therapeutic riding and so far its been an amazing experience!

Not only does the program help her with her physical disabilities, it had also helped with her communication skills, not only with people but with the animals too! We spend so much time with therapists and doctors and evaluations that its really nice to take part in something that is just plain FUN! I was so impressed with the program and the volunteers that I offered to make some quilts to sell for fundraising. Hazelwild has a great logo so we decided to start off with that...

I made three quick copies in various colors...

Though the teal and purple was by far my favorite!

The stitching went quick and easy (for once!) Which was a blessing because I only had a week to make them and I did not finish all 3 until the morning of the event!!! Here they are for sale at the Hazelwild Harvest Festival.

It was a beautiful day! We visited with the horses... This big guy is Liam!

And this is Lucy! What a beautiful creature!

Cadence rode the barrel train, picked pumpkins and REALLY enjoyed the haunted house!

I'm so happy we found Hazelwild Farm and its therapeutic riding program. The people are amazing and the horses are so inspiring... I will be making many, MANY more quilts for them in the future!

On a roll!

It's been a busy day! Three new quilts for Hazelwild Therapeutic Riding.

Moving Forward...

Attempting to shift my focus to better and more beautiful things...

Life after the liar...

For the last six months I have been artistically stagnant. I chose instead to focus my time and energy on a man... a man I thought I was in love with. And then one day I learned about his lies... in a matter if minutes I realized I had no idea who this man really was. I was stunned, shaken, angry and honestly a little scared! That very day I rallied my closest friends waited for him to leave the house and abandoned ship never to look back.

It's been a month since then and as the days have passed I continue to struggle with my emotions, its hard to even put into words... Some kind of a mix of confusion and anger, relief, anxiety and embarrassment... This was a man who said he wanted to build a future together and I believed him... was he planning on maintaining these lies for a lifetime? And if he's capable of that what else is he capable of? My mind is stirring my emotions are turbulent and in the past my answer to times like these would be to pour myself into quilting... To work it all out through fabric, blood, sweat and tears... But not this time... This wound is unlike any I've had before and it has cut me very very deep... All I can say for sure is I'm stuck on the image of a burning house... So for now I'm just riding this emotional wave and waiting to see where this latest inspiration will lead me.

Counting the Days!

I have been without a working laptop for over two months now! In the meantime I have made a quilt for my puppy from some adorable Basic Grey fabric, I've visited the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival, made a full size PATCHWORK quilt (without pulling my hair out), helped 16 preschoolers hand-dye fabric and sewn their fabrics into 16 amazingly beautiful pillows, sold and shipped two quilts, started a set of custom tattoo pillows, worked up a pattern for my next show quilt, started another Basic Grey patchwork quilt... AND taught five lovely ladies how to make my Mooncrane quilt! All this and no computer to blog with :((( sad sad sad... Well that my friends is about to change! My new MacBook Pro arrives in five days and counting!!! Whoo-hoo

"The Quagmire"

This beautiful photo by Scott Holstein is the inspiration for my next show piece. I've been brainstorming on this one for over a year and cannot wait to finally get started!

Day of Rest...

Going on hour 10!

Let the binding begin!

Almost as cool as the front!

Good Hair Day

Lunch break!

"The Turning Point"

Finally finishing the quilt...

This is Edith...

This is Edith Hastings. It's 1875, Edith is 16 years old and apparently has a lot on her mind.

I found this photo while going through some old family documents with my Dad today. Edith is one of my distant relatives, not sure how distant, my family is quite large. Anyways something about Edith and her expression just struck me and I knew I had to make a quilt of her! So here's to Edith! Coming Soon!

Happy 2012!