Happy Holidays and Warm Wishes!

Wishing you and your family the merriest and healthiest of holiday's!

I made this Santa quilt several years ago. It was a fun quilt to make and so many of my friends fell in love with it that I ended up making about 20 of them. The pattern and fabric were designed by Debbie Mumm in the early 90s. I still have the pattern and some of the fabric.

So Ho, Ho, Ho and Merry Christmas!

Alltop, Missing Q, and Guy Kawasaki

A little over a month ago I was cruising around on the internet.
I had been twittering and saw a post by Guy Kawasaki. I enjoy his books, such as, The Art of Start, and listening to his lectures so I clicked on the link that he posted on twitter and it took me to Alltop. For whatever reason I had never heard of Alltop but soon figured out that it was a site that would lead me to blogs that contained a lot of great information.

I am a quilter, so I decided to look up what people were blogging about on quilting. I did a search and it took me to the Needlecraft category. Now there weren't a lot of blogs about quilting so I just figured I must not have searched properly. I backed up a few steps and came to a page that lets you look at subjects alphabetically. As I looked at the alphabet I couldn't find the Q.

It was rather late so I thought I had just missed it, so I looked again...still no Q. I thought, well how can that be, the rest of the alphabet was there why would the Q be left out. And, why wouldn't quilting have a category unto itself rather than under needlecraft. Especially since there are a lot of quilters and it is big business. Even though it was late I sent an email to their information email address. Stating, in a rather humorous way that the Q was missing and that I would really like the Q to be added and specifically that Quilting needed its own category. I also said that until they decided to give Quilting its own category I was holding the Q hostage. I didn't even expect an answer. Well, I just about fell off my chair when in about 15 minutes I received a reply. Not just any reply, but a reply from Guy Kawasaki.

He appreciated my sense of humor and how I had approached them to add the Q and ultimately Quilting. A couple of emails back and forth and Guy asked me to gather quilting blogs so that it would have its own category and the Q would be inserted back into the alphabet.


Wa La...the Q is now part of the alphabet again and Quilting has a home of its own on the Alltop network. You should visit Alltop. I promise that you will find a lot of really cool blogs on many different subjects --including quilting. If you place the widget on your blog you will get automatic updates on your favorite blog subjects.

Wearable Art Queen Anne's Lace Wool Cuff

Did you know that Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot) is actually a weed? I know...I know you are saying how can something so beautiful be a weed. And, did you know that if you find one with a red center, rather than just a dark center it is said to be very lucky? The red center is very rare and its significance is that Queen Anne, whilst doing needlework pricked her finger and a droplet of blood fell on this flower.

Whenever I come across Queen Anne's Lace, which is not often here in Arizona, I always search for a red center...guess what...I have never found one...have you?

My newest cuff is in honor of this weed (I'll always think of it as a flower).

Artist Series - Sherry Truitt

When I first saw Sherry's creative jewelry all that came to my mind was...how cool! Such ordinary objects turned into extraordinary works of art. It also made me smile and chuckle, because I thought of the numerous times I have spent with a level in my hand. Or, examining a map trying to find my way...hmmm I wonder what she can turn a GPS unit into? On a personal level Sherry is outspoken, helpful, and funny. In the Etsy forums I have seen her help people with advice on how to get noticed. It is certainly with her determination and grace that she has become successful with her line of creative jewelry. You can visit with Sherry more below, or on her blog So, Sherry.

1. When did you become interested in art and did you choose art, or did it choose you?

Art chose me at a young age. Not traditional art, like drawing or painting, but three-dimensional art. I was given an erector set at the age of three, and I was always building something. I liked to mix sets, like tinker toys, Lincoln logs and blocks to build small cities. My grandmother would take photos for me, so I could recreate scenes when we got home.

2. You get to spend one weekend each with three historical figures, an artist, a writer and one of your choice. Who are they and what will you talk about?

What a weekend that would be. I would choose Thomas Mann as the artist. He is the consummate metal smith of our generation. He is the first artist I ever met that taught me it was ok to want to be successful, and how to be a businessperson as well as a designer. He teaches a course called, Design for Survival. I’d just love to sit and listen to how he comfortably blends the juxtaposition of art and business. I’d most like to meet the writer, Alice Hoffman. She has a delicious blend of fantasy and reality woven into the most ordinary characters that become extraordinary. I would just listen to whatever she had to say. Finally, I would like to meet Henri Cartier-Bresson, my favorite photographer of all time. One day, I want to become a very good photographer, in this lifetime.

3. Do any of these choices influence your work?

What really influences my work is the world around me. I love the tools of everyday man; it’s a great joy to turn those items, a spirit level, a compass, a map into wearable art.

4. Has the popularity of the internet affected your work?

Oh my yes, I could not otherwise have the world at my fingertips.

5. Have you discovered any new techniques to creating your work that you can share?

I have techniques, and I think they are unique of how I put my work together. Like, precision grinding the levels to fit in sterling caps, or how to bond copper and sterling for my map pieces, but I’m not ready to share them. It was a two-year period of trial and error with the levels, and finally it was my lovely husband who came up with the final technique.

6. How do you overcome artist block?

I carry a graph paper moleskine with me wherever I go. It’s filled with words and sketches and doodles. If I’m having trouble deciding what direction to go on, I just open it, and the work begins.

7. Describe something that comes up in your work because of a life experience.

I did a series of pins for the war in Iraq. I had to keep busy when the war first escalated, and it kept me from feeling helpless.

8. If I walked into your studio this moment what would you show me first? What would you want to hide?

I am working on some sculpture with maps. I am not sure how it will evolve, or if I will sell it, but it is interesting. I really have nothing to hide.

9. Describe what you do, or who you are in a haiku.

It is from shadows
That we finally see light
And journey onward

10. Is there anything else that you would like to share?

That I am grateful for my family and blessed to wake every day to do what I love.

Snow Hunters

A walk on Thanksgiving along a fire road in the northern woods of Arizona. It seemed a mystical setting as we walked. The fog, leaves dripping chilling, ice-like droplets on our heads and snow drifted on tree limbs and pathways. Our feet crunching in snow reminiscent of our childhood. No gloves and no hats, ignoring the coldness as we reached down to make snowballs and begin a snowball fight. I won, of course...did you have any doubt?

We have become snow hunters... One takes advantage of snow when you live in Arizona and takes pictures as proof! After growing up with this weather delight in the Midwest and not being graced with its presence often or for very long we make our way to the snow, rather than the snow making its way to us. Spending a day playing in the snow takes the bite out of the memory of 115 degree temperatures in August.