Selling a Quilt is like Saying Goodbye to a Friend

A few weeks ago I sold one of my favourite quilts.    It was inspired several years ago by a chant we were singing in my women's choir.

                    "The earth is a woman and she will rise
                                   We will live in her"

The piece is named  'The Earth is a Woman'.   Hand stitched and hand-quilted with applique, embroidery, gemstone stars, and sequins, it is 34" x 25".    I was thrilled to sell it but also felt a little sad to see it go.  Nevertheless part of the pleasure in creating a piece is knowing that it will make someone happy.    It is a little like singing.   It's fun to sing in the shower but bringing music to others and seeing faces light up and toes tapping is simply the best!   Now I have new ideas to pursue.   Can't wait for the new year to get started.

Season's greetings

At my last fibre arts group meeting some of the members showed us holiday cards they had made.   So I got an idea.   I had picked up some blank cards which were all coloured in soft greens and coral patterns.   So I designed a fabric landscape using these soft colours.  I cut out some deer from a photo I had taken and some trees and glued them onto the landscape.   Then I copied them with my printer onto photo paper and glued them to the front of the cards which I had printed inside with a season's greetings message.


I was not totally satisfied but it was interesting and maybe I'll include some in gifts to my friends.   I haven't taken photos of the finished product yet but here is a landscape with and without the deer and trees.

3 x 5 matted fabric landscapes

A few days before my open house I ordered a few mats for my 4 x 6 landscape miniatures.   I wanted a 5 x 7 mat with a 4 x 6" opening.  When they arrived I realized that I had ordered the wrong size and my mat openings were 3 x 5".     So....when life hands you lemons.......I quickly made up a few 3 x 5 minis - a size I hadn't worked with before.  I loved the results - especially with these white/black double mats.   I framed a few and offered a choice of matted and framed or unframed.   They turned out to be pretty popular at the open house.    Of course these are all fused to a backing and left unstitched.    But they look quite striking.  With the 3 x 5s you get more mat surrounding them than having a 5 x 7 mat on a 4 x 6 piece.   I plan to make more but here are some results of my little 'mistake'.

I am also starting back to work on pieces for my summer exhibition.   One is an interpretation of Kuan Yin from the buddhist tradition.   I started her almost 2 years ago, then put the piece aside to percolate (some pieces need more time than others:-)   This week I took it out and started adding hand-painted and appliqued icons - a young tiger, exotic bird, bowl of rice, dragon and lotus flower (so far).   I am liking the results but need to figure out more embellishments for her gown etc.

I also am itching to share something with visitors to my blog but I need to wait for a few weeks.  It was probably more exciting for me than for anyone else........