Nancy's Kinetic Energy

Here is Nancy's Kinetic Energy Quilt (by 4th and 6th Designs) -- this is an awesome quilt pattern. No matter what color you choose you really can't go wrong!
They also have a pattern called Coffee and Teal which I think I'm just going to have to make along with this Kinetic Energy one! See, again, I can't quilt a quilt top without starting one of my own -- but these look really simple -- they are based off of "strata" which is an easy concept! Maybe that will be one of those weekend mindless sewing days, we'll see.

tis the Season...

to be quilting! It has really been the Christmas theme at my house lately. Here is Sally's Christmas lap quilt -- too cute if I do say so myself!

Billy's Panels

Here are two Laurel Burch panels pieced by Billy --

She tells me that her first "big" quilt is on its way. I can't wait to see it!

Beautiful butterflies...

Okay, back to work. We experienced enough nature with yesterday's bees! Pat's butterfly wallhanging is done and it is beautiful. I'd much rather work on butterflies than look at bees!

and one not so "beautiful" surprise...

Well... this morning started out beautiful; this evening not so much. One more tiny bit of nature showed its face...

Oh, not so nice at all! I'll be calling the exterminator first thing tomorrow morning -- bees and I just do not get along.

Nature's little surprises...

Isn't it amazing when you find little surprises packed into your day? I had two such surprises today -- first was my bloomin' cacti out back -- it only blooms at night and I managed to catch most of the blooms still open this morning -- they go all the way to the top (and it's tall)!

My second little surprise was a beautiful rainbow --

It was truly a beautiful day!

Oops, it's been a little while since my last post. I've been a little busy catching up! Here's a picture of Sheila's silk border This quilt turned out great... can't wait for Sheila to see it!

Okay, at the PSLCQ Show Meeting last week I mentioned that the Member Challenge Ribbons were done -- here they are

Remember, these are only for the Member Challenge, which is Tropical Sealife, so for those members who haven't started on a challenge... get to it, look at the beautiful ribbons you could be taking home!

Controversial Billboard

Here's a link to one of our local news channels. Joe and I snapped some pictures last night of a very controversial billboard... of course, the billboard was in today's paper and all over tonight's news. After watching tonights news, we felt compelled to share the photos -- when we took the pics we only thought wow, that sums up all the "tax stuff" going on here -- we did not realize how controversial these billboards would be. We submitted pictures of both sides of the billboard to one of our news channels and they did use one -- http://www.wptv.com/content/news/stlucie/portstlucie/story/port-st-lucie-billboard-crime-up-layoffs-wptv/RxjM6sdlHk6H30hLxqo0aA.cspx

p.s. we'll keep our eyes open for the Thank You billboard also and we'll make sure to share it!

Sharon Schamber Retreat Day 5

I know, I'm still running a day behind on my posts...
It has been an amazing, eye-opening, awe-inspiring week! WOW! I consider myself an artist, in many forms; but, my experiences this week have been amazing. I have learned to paint again -- through different eyes. Sharon's techniques of fabric manipulation are amazing (get used to it, there's no other word that fits). She truly looks at something impossible and makes it totally possible! She breaks any project down into understandable and achievable steps. If you can think it, she can show you how to make it! She is truly a gifted teacher and a very special person! On that note, here are some pictures:

Here is our fantastic host Amy (http://silverrainmgt.com/), the wonderful Sharon Schamber (http://sharonschamber.com/ or http://sharonschambernetwork.com/) , and myself!

My owl on Day 5.

And here are some pics of the other ladies enjoying the retreat:

And here is Sharon at work creating life on fabric:

Sharon Schamber Retreat Day 4

Wow! My owl (Oliver) is coming to life right before my eyes (and his too)!


This class is just amazing! Remember to check out Silver Rain Management (http://silverrainmgt.com) for pictures of everyone's work or to set up your own retreat, and also Sharon's websites also www.sharonschamber.com and http://sharonshambernetwork.com for amazing everything!

Sharon Schamber Retreat Day 3

I know its Thursday, but last night it was too late for me to post pics, so here they are:

Sharon Schamber Retreat Day 2

Okay, no pics today, apparently my camera is doing strange things! Everything was bright white in the pics -- I'll get some good pics up tomorrow. My project is amazing, you will be in awe when you see it -- I can say this because I have even amazed myself on this one!

Anyway, when you get a chance check out this website -- http://www.silverrainmgt.com/ -- it belongs to Amy & Jay, and they are the wonderful people that set up these fabulous retreats! Just in case you're new in this "quilting" world and you haven't had the opportunity, check out Sharon Schamber's websites http://sharonschamber.com/ and http://sharonschambernetwork.com/. Then, once you are done drooling, call Amy & Jay and set up a retreat, it is awesome and you won't be sorry!

Okay, until tomorrow...

Sharon Schamber Retreat Day 1

Whew! What a day, my head is still spinning! Its a good spin though... not a lot of words tonight, I'm really tired, but here's a few pics:

If I wasn't weird enough already...

I have bonded with my owl! I have been staring at my owl picture almost non-stop since opting to use it for the retreat. Well, not non-stop, but I keep looking at it, and going out of my way to look at it. So this morning I decided to do some googling and look up the symbolic meaning of owls. Throughout various cultures the symbolism of owls mainly deals with: intelligence, brilliance, perspective, intuition, quick-wit, independence, wisdom, protection, mystery, power, and perception. Boy did I hit the nail on the head with that one!

So, I started thinking back and seeing how long I've had this "bond" with owls. Okay, ready... my first recollection of an owl was fifth grade when I made a macrame owl for my art class (knowing my Mom, she probably still has it in the attic or a closet somewhere). I've always liked owls, but never really felt this strongly about them. What I'm starting to think is that I didn't chose my photo, it chose me! I know, weird... get used to it, I'm like that all the time!

On Monday I begin my week-long Design and Construction Retreat with Sharon Schamber. Wow, I'm finally getting excited (again). I was super excited at first, and then daily life snuck-up on me... I had to prepare for the week, I needed a picture to work from, supplies, work space, etc. So the hubby helped me with all the running around and pulled together all the stuff I was going to need, along with Sharon-specific pressing stations. And I had to continue working on everyone else's beautiful quilts. So during all this running about I started losing my excitement. This morning we took all the items over to Amy's and set-up. So now I actually feel a bit of relief; the preparation part is over and now the creative juices are beginning to flow again!

I chose this photo of an owl in a winter scene. The owl is beautiful yes, but part of me misses snow and winter, and the changing of seasons, which is why I'm stuck on this photo. Originally I had wanted to work from a photo of a fawn with snow on it's face, but I was continually drawn back to this owl... it also helps that both the family and Sharon like it too!

Hopefully my creative genius will show its beautiful face on Monday and this owl will slowly come to life. Keep checking back for posts, I'll keep you in on everything I'm doing!

Jeannie's Summer Wine is done!

Jeannie's quilt is done -- it looks beautiful!


I'll be doing another "Summer Wine" quilt in December and I can't wait -- it'll be in different colors though.

Another beautiful sunset...

Here's yet another beautiful sunset from last night.  We took our (almost) daily stroll at the river -- it was too beautiful not to share!

Summer Wine #1

Here's a peek at Jeannie's "Summer Wine" quilt (embroideries and quilt pattern by Jenny Haskins http://www.jennyhaskins.com/). I'm about halfway through... that's alot of stitching!