OK!  my latest resolution (and I am making a resolution to make them as required rather than at the end or beginning  of the year) will be to post things before they happen rather than after! Last weekend WAS ( sorry about that!) the Extraordinary Art Exhibition and was amazing fun.

It’s great to be one of the FarmWurx crew and there will be more coming from this exciting group of artists, watch this space!

We had a wonderful day on Saturday lots of visitors and a chance to meet and mingle with the other artists as well. Elizabeth turned her home into the beautiful gallery  and a good time was had by all!

I have been doing smaller pieces using up some screen prints from a loooong time ago, giving them a new life. The fruit bowls are screen printed by me, painted by Elizabeth, quilted and then turned into cushions by me! a very collaborative process. I love the colours . They are the debut pieces for Pillow Talk! something we plan to do more of in the future.

It was nice to see my work mixed in with potters and painters, a change from the usual quilt shows!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the renovations continue….

This is the wonderful Jeff ( not his best side!) removing the last of the old fireplace and getting ready for the new. I know it doesn’t look great but progress is being made.Even though the toilet is still in the living room- just to the left of the fireplace ( doesn’t everyone keep it there?)

An exciting feature is the “new” bathroom- all ready and waiting for tiles, they are coming later this week.

One of the things about renovating is finding a place for all the “stuff” to go and I am running out of places! There are piles all over the un-renovated part of the house. Piles of faucets, taps, tiles and all sorts and of course the furniture has to go somewhere. Finding a place to sit at the end of the day has become a challenge!

Sigh…. oh well, it will be wonderful when it’s all done and everything finds it place.

It’s been cold here the last few days but the reward for surviving the cold day is often a gorgeous sunset, this taken from my bedroom window….where I have been hiding when the dust  threatens to take over.

Bye for now, Catherine

I know it’s been a while since I updated this blog!  No excuses.. the renovations are continuing …. I have walls. But the real reason for the delay in posting is that  I have been at Art Quilt Tahoe for the past week recharging my creative batteries. Tahoe is the most lovely place …once you get there!

This picture was taken as we passed over the Siskiyou Summit just a few miles before the California/Oregon border. The mountain passes on the way through the Sierra Nevada mountains can be snowy this time of the year. Nope I didn’t take the picture, I had both hands firmly on the wheel.

The weather was very dramatic all that day. We were met by this amazing sky when we arrived at the lake.

I spent 4 days in a wonderful workshop with Valerie Goodwin. The workshop was called Favorite Places and we used maps as a source of inspiration for our work. Valerie had us do some “warm up” activities  the first day and then set us to work on our own designs.

My design is created from an image taken from a float plane flight between Vancouver and  Victoria. I created a drawing from the original image and then Valerie had us create a thumbnail collage in the fabrics we might use. The thumbnail is just the size of an index card and great fun to make … not to mention a really valuable step in working out the fabrics and colours I might use.

The quilt itself has a long way to go but I am off to a great start with it.

There is always something happening at this conference! each faculty member gives a presentation at meal time to talk about what they have been up to. They show new work, chat about inspiration and their process it’s like a mini workshop with everyone.

Velda Newman brought her amazing quilt “Zinnia”, winner of the Quilts Japan prize at 2010 Quilt Visions.

Here it is being opened out in the dining hall during Velda’s presentation to the group.  I didn’t make a note of the actual size of the piece but it is stunning!  here’s another image with Velda in front to give you an idea of just how large this quilt is.

Valerie Goodwin talked about her career as an architecture professor and how that work has inspired and informed her quilt making.

Judging from the sign below we weren’t the only ones enjoying the dining hall! this was posted on the outside door.

There was even a little time to relax and enjoy the scenery… which was gorgeous.

Now back to work… Bye for now, Catherine