Here I am--once again

Well, this is the my blog posting since last January.  And Blogger has changed!  So . . .we'll see how I do.
I stopped blogging in January because I felt as if things were sort of topsy-turvey in my life and I just needed to step back and live one day at a time.  I knew my husband had more heart surgery coming up and several other things were on the horizon of my life.   Also, I was still recovering from the 3rd move in less than two years.  I learned that moving that many times in such a short time was really too much for someone that is experiencing one of those less-than-youthful years.
Oh well, all that is to say that things are more settled now and I feel like I am anchored in this place.  My husband DID have more heart surgery (to not much beneficial effect), I have had two hand surgeries (to somewhat beneficial effect) and many things are not as great as I would like them.  So what else is new?  I bet you could give more or less the same report for your own life.  But, we're breathing, right?  And I have begun to miss writing about my quilting life and other things that have meaning to me.  So, here goes.
One really great thing that has happened to me lately is that I am once again a member of an art group--a bunch of great women called The Boxers.  And what this means is that we strive to work OUTSIDE of the box.  I haven't been a member of the group long enough to know all of the individual talents of each person but I've been a member long enough to know that each person is nice.  At this point in my life, that means a lot.  For example, the other day we were working on a group project and a problem with the construction arose (which was essentially my fault).  We were able to talk it through, come up with a solution and STILL enjoy the time together.  What more could you ask?

That's really enough for today except that I'll post a couple of picture of some of my latest work.

This first small quilt is named Dreamy Flowers.  It is a pattern that I have for sale.  I'll be going to Florence, SC on Thursday to present a Trunk Show and really wanted to have something new to offer.    For me, this is a really good example how how you can take a fairly simple design and make it dramatic through color choices.  I had a really great time with it.






This second quilt is named Sticks and Stones and is my contribution for the Silent Auction at the Asheville Quilt Show at the end of this month (Please come if you can--it's a wonderful show with great vendors.).  For this quilt I cut apart a diamond background-- that I had sewn for something else and it didn't work--and used part of it.  I added the fabric strips, circles, couched yarns and beads,  My husband said it looked like pick-up-sticks and fireballs.  I named it Sticks and Stones because of the rest of the poem.  I did a large orange peel quilting on the background and was really happy with the way it made all of the diamonds blend together.  This year all of the money raised in the Silent Quilt Auction will go to the Quilt Guild Fund that pays for charity quilts.  We provide SO many quilts and some of our sources for batting and fabric are no longer there, so this will be great.
So  . . .that's all for now.  Glad to be back.