Plum Blossom Time
On my return from teaching at Quilter's Connection in Watertown, MA, I discovered the plum blossoms in full bloom in our back yard. The tree won't bear any fruit worth mentioning, but who cares! Like many of our quilts they exist only for their beauty, not for any practical purpose.
But if my trees did bear fruit, this is what they would look like.

Paducah, I Shall Miss You!
I won't be able to attend the AQS show in Paducah, KY this year. But Frieda will be there with Anne Lullie minding the Artfabrik / FrieStyle booth. Look her up in booth 1907 and tell her how much I miss being there.

Instead I'll be off teaching in sunny Massachusetts and visiting my friend Janet Dye. Janet is the person who introduced me to the wonderful world of art quilts. She started it all!

However, my quilt, Nice Neighborhood (above), will be at Paducah. This colorful quilt depicts my neighborhood along the Fox River.
Well, not really.

I am reliably informed by Melody (who taught me all about fusing), that my quilt won a Judges Choice award from Mary Sorensen, a woman of excellent taste. Thanks Mary!

This quilt is now part of the Bloggers Quilt Festival. Check it out!

Surrounded!
Frieda and I have spent the last few days surrounded by color. The colors of our hand-dyed fabrics and threads and bright little quilts on the walls wrap around our booth at the IQF in Chicago.

We're also surrounded by friends! Everyday we meet quilt friends, fellow teachers, students we have taught, and future fusers of America. Conversations about family, quilting, and friendship abound.

It's been a good show.

Packing Up
The grand day of packing has arrived! All the items for the Artfabrik booth (#1425) at the International Quilt Festival / Chicago are boxed and practically out the door.

There are patterns and kits, hand-dyed fabric and thread in every size and color, fuse-fast shapes, books, DVD's, and a selection of my small art quilts ready for sale. And I'll bring exotic things you won't find on the Artfabrik web site like my hand-dyed gauze, silk, shirts, and even bags of hand-dyed thread ravelings.

Please come see Frieda and me. We love to chat and tell wild stories!

Silk Update
This just in. Cecilia, one of the Desedamas (see below), says their company name means "silk and more". And it's true. Their work is so much more than just a piece of silk fabric. It is wonderful!

Silk Painters from Spain
Having a free hour to explore the vendor mall at the Asociacion Espanola de Patchwork show, I came across 2 sisters who are silk painters, the Desedamas. (This web site is available in English for us non-Spanish speaking readers.)

Here is the delightful silk panel I purchased. It is based upon the singer Martirio. I aspire to be just like her.

The Desedamas (silk women?), Cecilia and Merce, make beautiful work! The colors are vibrant and the designs are lively and fun. They hosted a special exhibit called Inspirados en la Musica where artists used one of the Dseda silk panels and created a quilt using it as inspiration.

The exhibit book is now in my collection. And soon I'll have a new set of sunglasses for singing just like Martirio.

Improvising
My favorite way of creating art work is improvising with pre-fused fabric shapes. When I make a quilt, I keep the cut-aways and play with the left overs. There are times when I resurface after working in this manner and realize hours have passed.

Here is the start of a bird quilt. As you can see I'm not very neat when it comes to my work space. But for me, it's better if things are not too organized. That way I can invent new designs on the spot and not fuss over keeping things tidy.