Posts Tagged ‘sky’

TWO Quilts Finished!

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

OK, I am excited, and they are both small, but just finishing anything this year is an accomplishment!

Stormy Sky Finished

I finally got time to finish the quilting on this one… Made for last month’s Fast Friday Fabric Challenge.  I had all but the sky quilted, but was unsure how to continue, so I uploaded it to the FFFC Blog anyway for some ideas. We then left for GA, and I finally got back to it. I used clear thread, and did have to do a bit of touching up of the needle marks in the sky. It finished at 10″x10″ with the black suede yarn binding.

Stormy Sky quilting holes

When I finished stitching, the holes from the needle really showed up a lot…. Not good! (the above photo shows them fairly well, it also shows more shine than the piece really has) So I pulled out my thinned gel gloss medium, water soluble wax pastels, and a stiff small brush….. I tried to match the color of the medium to the area of the sky I was working on, and it worked nicely. I did have to add a new back over it to cover the mess I created there with the color running through the holes, but I like the effect much better now.  The only thing that jumps out at me now is the “A” in the sky… not sure what I was doing when I zigged instead of keeping things rounded…

Stormy Sky Finished Detail

Here is a closer look… I also am not sure how I ended up with the tree top leaning so much, but I could say “the wind was blowing”, even though it wasn’t at the time I took the inspiration photo. Maybe it only bothers me….

Orange Echinacea on the Rocks Finished

This is the second piece I finished…. It has been in the works for much longer. This is 12″x12″ in size with the fuzzy yarn binding. I had the lower right rocky section beaded, then stopped. As shown in the preceding post, I finally got it back out while on our GA trip. I am really glad I put in my “travel bead studio” last minute…. I almost went away with no hand project at all to work on…. That’s how bad things have been quilt wise….

Orange Echinacea on the Rocks detail

Here is a detail shot showing some of the tiny shells, bug beads, and gemstone chips I added. I also added beads to the flower center for more texture. “Orange Echinacea on the Rocks” is available in my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on Artfire.

Now I even have a few more pins beaded since my last post!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art Quilts, Available for Purchase, FFFC Challenge Quilts | 3 Comments »

We’re Back!

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

We finally got back from our trip to Georgia and North Carolina. We started out driving to Rockingham, NC to stay with Ken's sister on Monday, Oct. 1st. We then drove Tuesday to Columbus, GA, and stayed in a motel for the 3 days there.

Zack in Beret with pack
Zack in Beret with pack


Wednesday was the first day we got to see Zack, during the Beret Ceremony. We actually ended up standing really close to him during the ceremony, an advantage of being a little later that we had planned.  Here is a photo of him with a pack of his belongings on his back, on the way to the van.

He was glad to have some freedom, and to re-aquaint himself with his laptop. We spent the afternoon driving around Columbus, and seeing some of the sights. We ended up on the Phoenix City Alabama side of the Chattahoochee River on the River Walk.

Zack with Shades
Zack with Shades

Ken and Zack
Ken and Zack

Left- Zack in his shades, Right- Ken and Zack along the riverwalk.

We also ended up at a mall, where Zack purchased a new cell phone that seems to be more computer than phone. He wanted to have a phone and PDA in one. He is my Computer Tech support.
Wednesday was the graduation ceremony, and demonstration of some of what the guys learned. Here is the graduate just after the ceremony. It's official- all 3  of my boys are now military men.

Zack at Civil War Museum
Zack at Civil War Museum

We visited the Civil War Museum that day, and to right is Zack in dress uniform in front of the museum.
On Thursday, we were able to pick him up at the base and take him across the state, from Ft. Benning to Ft. Gordon.

Sleeping Zack with Phone
Sleeping Zack with Phone

I couldn't help myself… I had to take this photo. The tuckered out private in the back seat. He fell asleep while doing something on his phone- phone in one hand, stylus in the other.

We got a surprise when we arrived at the new base, he got a 3 day pass to go off base in order to spend more time with family. It changed our plans a bit. We stayed with Ken's sister, and were able to connect with many of Ken's relatives that he hasn't seen in years.

We took Zack back on Sunday, 16 hours before he had to be back, but we needed to get back home. After the trip back to GA, and turning around back toward home, we needed to stop for another motel night. It turned out great. We have traveled through Virginia before, and had told ourselves that we would someday go on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Well Someday came, and we took a side trip.

Pond wirh Tree
Pond wirh Tree

BRParkway 1
BRParkway 1

Here are some photos I took along the way. The pond was before we started climbing the mountain, much.

BRParkway 2
BRParkway 2

BRParkway 4
BRParkway 4

The van started to heat up a bit before we got to the top, but cooled off nicely when things leveled out. The views were fantastic. We had a sunny, but hazy day, but could see a lot. The road was right up against walls of rock at times.

BRParkway Arnold Valley Sign and Ken
BRParkway Arnold Valley Sign and Ken

OK, I'm not super great with heights, Ken doesn't mind them. Here he is behind the sign, which was very close to the drop-off. Not a place I'd go.  The view here was super!! We could see for miles even with the haze.

Dead Tree
Dead Tree

Here is a neat, dead tree that was not too far from the sign Ken was behind. You can see it was a sunny, blue sky day. It was also hotter than usual for October.

We had not planned for the extra time away, but it turned out to be a great thing. We got more time with Zack, and got to do something we have wanted to do, but never had the time. 

Now I have nearly 200 photos for quilt inspiration!! Mountains and skies, and more.

Pin Group
Pin Group

I also had my laptop case loaded with pin bases and beads, so did some work on the road, and at the motels at night. Here are some of the pins I finished. Quite a collection, I have also uploaded a few new ones to my Etsy store. I also sell these at my shows and in a few gift shops.

If you should see one you might be interested in, let me know, it may be available- they usually move fast.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Another Walk in the Yard

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007

Another walk through my yard with my camera, here are a few photos from this walk.

Back Yard Greening
Back Yard Greening


Here is my backyard. The Walnut trees are begining to leaf out, and I have worked in my stone wall garden- on the right side of photo- barely seen. The garden in the center is still waiting for help. I have been working to remove the quack grass, but the old dead stuff is still there.  I worked to remove ugly dead grasses from the front door garden, yesterday. I really hurt today!
Violet Lawn
Violet Lawn

In this photo, I was trying to show the violets in the grass. This is the area behind where I was taking the first picture. If you look at the larger version of this, You may be able to see more of the violets, they are blooming all the way to the hayfield. It is really great, I felt bad mowing there, because I was chopping off some flowers.

Maple Again
Maple Again

The right photo above, is another shot of the variegated maple leaves opening up, with the blue sky behind. The edges of the leaves will get lighter as they mature.

Honeysuckle 2
Honeysuckle 2

Deep Lilac Opening
Deep Lilac Opening

Above, are a couple more of my flower photos, using the sky as a background. The honeysucle flowers are in the process of opening. I ended up cutting a branch, to take the photo, because the bush is in real need of grooming. It is full of deadwood, and is in real need of some pruning.  The lilac is one I have been catching as it opens. Most of the lilacs are in full bloom now. One of the late bloomers is still in tight bud. The Honeysucle on the left, may find itself in my blue quilt. I am trying to decide if it will have just white and blue, or have some sparks of pink thrown in.

Flowering Almond
Flowering Almond

White Tulips
White Tulips

Above left, is the flowering almond almost past peak of bloom. The right photo is a grouping of 3 tulip flowers, taken with the ground as the background. The focus, and lightness of the flowers make the background really dark, a possible quilt photo.  It looks as if today will be another bright blue sky day.  I will be doing some shopping at a greenhouse, for plants to pot up a batch of memorial planters that we had been potting, and placing on graves for customers for Memorial Day. I have around 30 planters to pot. I am really looking foreward to stepping foot into a greenhouse again, but as a customer, instead of owner.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »