Batik Circles of Life is finished!

Since it had been some time since I had finsihed anything,

it feels good to have finsihed something for myself.

This quilt is for the daybed in my studio and

goes extremely well with the

faux paint job that I have.

It is almost full sized (custom size for the daybed)

machine pieced and all hand quilted.

Monday Holidays in the summer are great!

Ashley, Amber, and their grandparents

(my sister and BIL) took off for

meteor crater this morning. We had a

leisurely breakfast, I packed them off,

and then I had a fantastic morning.

I always forget how much I

enjoy the mornings in the

spring/summer/fall.

I am usually not in hurry to get anywhere

(work, appointments, etc) and can just laze

around and enjoy a second cup of tea.

The birds are chirping, hot air balloons are

hovering on the horizon and the cats

(having come out of hiding from Ash and Amber all weekend)

are avidly watching the chirping, swooping birds.

Life is good, and now I am going to spend the day

working on my archetypes for my class with

Jane Dunnewold at

Quilt Surface Design Symposium

The Girls come to visit, baby birds, etc

I bought a gorgeous lilac geranium. It was in a hanging pot, and I had the perfect place for it. Hung it up, and within two days, a mother bird had built her nest and there were three eggs in it! I did not get a chance to take a picture before they hatched,

but here they are two days post hatching.

Here are Ashley and Amber admiring the new baby birds.

Here is a copy of my wall hanging "Foremeothers" in honor of the women in my family. It will be exhibited in several shows over the next year. Of course, I left shipping it until the last minute, and it cost me over $ 50 to send it overnight to California.

The poem is written by my talented sister Erva, and the photo of my mother, sister and I was taken by our adopted daughter/sister/niece Gracie (who is the mother of the next generation of women Ashely and Amber)!

New Mexico has had an unusually wet year, and on the way home tonight there was a gorgeous rainbow on the ground. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera and by the time I went home and got it, this was all that was left. Still beautiful, but only a minor portion of what was there 10 minutes before.

Good grief, the quilt is not even finished yet and it has been co-opted by Baby Cakes. Of course, she thinks that she owns the place anyway, especially the studio. I spent this weekend finishing the Crown Royal comforter and putting the binding on the circle quilt above! Since the weather was cold and windy, it was the perfect weekend.
Next weekend four friends and I are treating ourselves to a weekend at Ojo Caliente Spa! Lots of lazing around and massages, pedicures, etc. I can't wait!

Crown Royal comforter

This is the third quilt that I have made from the purple flannel-like bags that Crown Royal is sold in. The colors are much more vibrant in person, but it was a gray overcast day when I took the picture. 9 patch blocks made from the bags are set off with solid gold and purple flannel blocks and this huge comforter (over 116" square) is tied with gold string. A quilt this size always reminds me why I like to work on smaller art quilts!