Went out and about the town today

I took my camera along as I delivered this quilt to Bluestem Missouri Craft Gallery for an up coming exhibit that features art and craft works with flowers, but didn't find anything worth taking a picture of. Seeing all the tulips blooming on every corner in raised flower beds was heart warming, but all tulips everywhere look the same.
John the grandson who is on spring break this week came along for the ride and to show me how to get to the gallery in the fine arts school building on the University of Missouri campus. I wanted to see the Senior Art Students' Show. I will reserve my critique of the show least I sound too much like an old foggy who dislikes message and personal statement art which was what the majority of the work was about. Give me a pretty tree and a lovely sunset any day.

I have finally finished decorating my daughter's bedroom. She finally decided on a New England summer cottage look. By finishing I mean making the curtains, upholstering the box spring so it matches the room colors, making a table skirt and the matching curtains for her room and her bath and making a parsons chair cover to match the box spring. Sorry the lighting to day because of the rain was not good enough for you to see what the window treatment on the bed wall looks like. Now I am back to the tulip quilt. I am almost done with the quilting, I will give you another look when I have finished the painting.

Can you believe it snowed today

just when the landscaper was coming to start work on the yard. The snow didn't accumulate on the street just the grassy areas and roof tops. Close to an inch by the time it stopped. And there I was ready to for Spring. I ogled spring planting summer flowering bulbs at the grocery store yesterday, but did not buy them. I've purchased more than 1/2 dozen gardening book at the drug store and Barnes and Nobles looking for ideas for both the yard and my quilts. For the past five years I've had only rail boxes and patio size pots to plant into. This year there is almost an acre. The bad part about this is that it is facing North and get the East sun. Have several locations where Hosta's would grow, but I want COLOR, COLOR and more COLOR. I'm sure, Chad, the landscaper will have some ideas. And we must have trees. Some that grow faster like Maples would be good. Would love to have some flowering trees, but they because of cost may have to wait until phase 2 of the project. Phases 1 is; grade to prevent further soil erosion, grade or install drain to stop the standing water problem, bring in good top spoil and seed so we can have GRASS.
Enough about the yard....

I am working again on the tulip quilt and I must stop listening to both John and Lyn's comments as they pass the studio. I don't like what they are saying about the piece. I'm not too sure I an enthralled with it at this moment, but I have a vision. II have made three backgrounds for the tulips because they thought it wasn't oomph-y enough. I keep telling them to give me time to finish it. That at this stage it is not very "endearing" or "exciting" or what every they are looking for it to be. "Give it time, give me time" I'm not sure why they are weighing in so heavily on this piece when they have hardly given any of a dozen pieces I've made since I moved here a second look or thought it seemed.
Maybe, they need to get a life. SSSSHHHHH!!! don't tell them I said this.

The end of an era

My duties as the resident Grandmother in charge came to an end on March 11. John Christopher turned 16. HURRAY!!!!. He can now be legally left in the state of Missouri by himself for several nights without having on site parental supervision. And truly he is capable of handling that responsibility. Now I no longer have to worry that Lyn and my away from home commitments will over lap. From now on checking her schedule against mine will only be a courtesy not a must do before committing.
Another mile stone also happened on Sunday. After months and months of Lyn looking for furniture for her bedroom and finding nothing that she liked. She found some things yesterday; a bed, a chair and a wall unit. She decided not to decorate her room in traditional bedroom style. There is no need for a dresser and chest of drawer etc, since her bathroom, dressing room en suite is to die for. To date, she's brought nothing for her room but a lamp. Bringing to the new house only her bed frame, mattress and box spring. Can I say the room was bare. It echoed from the emptiness. NOW finally I think she is making some progress.
I could have gotten this room done for her months ago, but we do not have the same taste in furniture. She thinks I'm too traditional. And in all honesty, she had no clue what she wanted other than she wanted her room to feel like she was staying at a four star hotel. I on the other hand prefer the bed and breakfast kind of feel.
So off we (she, John and I) went on her rare day off during this tax season for the drive down to Jefferson City, the state capital which is about 30 miles from Columbia to look in three stores, sadly the one that was the furthermost away was not open on Sunday. We ended the outing at Outback for John's birthday dinner and held ourselves in check by not announcing to one and all that he was now 16.
Now for some quilt news:
Bluestem Missouri Art and Craft Gallery here in Columbia is carrying my work. My floral quilts will be featured there during an up coming Spring exhibit that focuses on art and craft with flowers as the theme. There will be a by invitation reception sometimes in May. A good reason to put on a dress and go out for the evening. I know pants would work too, but the last time my bare legs felt a breeze on them was last September, I think they are due.
Finished the commission I was working on and it was sent off and received last Monday so now I am back to working on the tulip quilt and waiting for another landscaper to come today to give us an estimate on how we can solve the standing water and soil erosion issues on the east side of the house and for most of the back yard.

Here's what been happening

The most remarkable thing about the Friday Saturday workshop I took was this pot of tulips. Aren't they wonderful. My latest quilt by happenstance is of tulips but there is nothing like the REAL things especially when they are in a color you love. These made my heart sing. It was snowing outside on Saturday when I took this picture. If you look to the left side of the picture you can see how snowy it was and since I wasn't lucky enough to win them in the put your name in the hat drawing I got the picture of them instead which will last far longer than the real plant.
I have included candid shots of the workshop happenings and the view of some of the completed class assignment by several of the participants.

While the workshop was billed as composition and design it was more about the use of color.
I think I have very good handle on color and value and would not have attended if I knew this was going to be the jest of the two days. But it was good to get to meet some other quilters in this area. The instructor was very good and took us quickly through what she called art 101 that did include commenting on some design principles as she critiqued the three class assignments which were: make a piece with a complimentary color harmony, a secondary triad harmony and a color harmony of your choice. They were to be quick studies that would be completed by the end of day one. No one finished, so she said we had home work and they should be ready by first things Saturday. Mine were, but no one else's was so day two was much like day one. She will be back in six months to teach to the group again, maybe it will be an art level 200 type class rather then a repeat of this one. So forgive my bitch'n , moan'n and complain'n.
From one of the ladies I learned the location of another quilt shop which surprisingly is close to my favorite yarn shop and near where I was having the bumper put back on the car from my accident with a curb while in Louisville. Of course, around here is relative. Everything is close. No further than 8 miles from one side of Columbia proper to the other. I has been so bad weather wise around here since I got back that having the repair done was the last thing. The duck tape Marti helped put on the car was doing a very good job of holding all in place.

The weather seems to be taking a turn toward Spring around here and the Landscaper was here to walk the yard with the guy who will be manning the earth moving equipment beginning the middle of next week if the weather hold and we don't get the rain that is predicted. Yesterday was the first time I have walked to the back property line. Generally all I see of the yard if from the kitchen door. Walking gave me a better handle on just how much the yard rises at the back of the lot. A bern will be built up on the east side of the lot. In my mind I can see the flowers that will be blooming there by mid summer.

New Computer Blues

I brought a new computer today. Decided on a desktop pc instead of a lap top. I am in the process of getting everything back to where I was when the old one died. Everytime I get a new computer I've told myself to keep a paper copy of pass words and setting so I don't have to rediscover everything all over again and start from scratch. But I didn't the last time. I finally wised up. I now have a note book beside me and I am keeping notes on what I am doing to get set up again. Of course all my e-mail address are lost and I will have to start from scratch with that too.

I will show you some images from the workshop I took on Friday and Saturday, just as soon as I can.

Haiku: the art of limiting words.

I never thought myself a poet, or the lover of them. In school I had to read and recite them for credit but in my youth the art of the word and the value of each was , lost. As you know I have had a time naming my work, mainly because it is not from a thought the work comes but comes from images and the images are always flowers or the color of a flower or feeling of the season in which I want to set the flower.
So I thought if I gave the feelings I have when I am working more thought, or get in touch with the feelings I have about the season or time of day in which the flowers find themselves at my hand then I could get a handle on what I might title the piece.
So for part of today as I was waiting for Carlos to come jump my car. (I thought the car would not start because of a dead battery) I decided to take pen in hand and sit down to write.
Here is what came of my mind wanderings.

The cold winter days
Steal both warmth and joy
Colors warm restore

Push back the night dark
Colors of Summer spring new
No more Winter dawns

Where goes the day
Slipping quietly to night
Blooms grow in moon glow.


Not quite Basho, the Japanese haiku master(1644-94)
I know haiku is written in a 5-7-3 syllable pattern and what I wrote does not fit that pattern but it was a starting point knowing I was limiting myself to a limited amount of words.

I began working on the tulip quilt again as Carlos determined that simply charging the battery was not going to solve the problem. So tomorrow I am having the car towed to the VW dealership for what ever. I hope a new battery will solve the problem.
Tomorrow evening I am going to a lecture and trunk show sponsored by the local quilt guild and the two day workshop that follows on Friday and Saturday. I will let you know how that goes.