May 14, 2011

Our youngest daughter graduated from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design on Saturday May 14.

The white cord means she was on the Dean's List. The red cord represents her major which was graphic design.

We are so proud of her!!!

Mukwonago Show

This is how our booth at the Crazy Quilter's Guild Show in Mukwonago, WI show looked when it was all set up.

This is how it looked after 1 hour and 45 minutes after the show closed. It was not a good show for me and my DH. Paducah was the same week-end...sigh...

This Week-End

I will be vending at the Mukwonago, WI Crazy Quilter's Guild show this week-end.

Come visit me if you are in Wisconsin or a nearby state.

I will be selling these wonderful threads, my rust dyed fabric,

and many vintage items.

Here is the link if you need to know more about this show.
http://www.mukwonagocrazyquilters.com/6.html

Easter

This is my rabbit, Keekum, chilling with his bear friends. He has actually bonded with these stuffed bears, who spend all there time in the living room. I use the big one as a foot stool. He likes to lick them, which to a rabbit, is a form of grooming.

Legoland

After vending at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Schaumburg, IL, I went to Legoland. It is near Woodfield Mall. Today I had plenty of time to see it.

http://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/chicago/en/index.htm It was amazing!!!

The first thing you saw was a full scale model of Chicago. I grew up in Chi-town, so I was really impressed!!! Here is the Wrigley Building in all its white glory, with Lake Point Towers behind it.

This little sight-seeing boat had, tiny flashes going off, as the people on it were taking pictures of the various things they saw.

Buckingham Fountain, complete with sprays!!!

Buckingham Fountain

After we got past the Chicago landscape, there was this picture of Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night.

(NOTE THAT IT IS ALL MADE FROM LEGO'S!!!)

Original Sewing & Quilt Expo

I was a vendor at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo, March 31, April 1-2 at the Schaumburg Convention Center. Here is how the booth looked when it was all set up. We ran a "Take It, Take It" at this end of the booth.

Here is how the booth looked 1.5 hours after the show ended!!!

4 Generations

My mother passed away on March 4. She turned 90 on February 5. We had a birthday party for her on February 12. She could not keep her eyes off her great grand daughter, who was born on January 23. This is a picture of my mother, my daughter, me and my grand daughter.

While my mother was in the hospital with pneumonia just before she died she delighted in looking at pictures of her great grand daughter as I held them up for her to look at.

The funeral will be held in Chicago, IL on Saturday March 19th. Please read this poem at 1:00pm CST, to help send my mother to heaven.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on the snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die.

Thanks for being a Rust-Tex.blogspot.com reader.

Swiss Finishing School

I do a retreat in New Glarus at the Chalet Landhaus. New Glarus' nickname is Little Switzerland. The Chalet Landhaus is shaped like a Chalet. I don't teach anything. Participants are to bring their UFO (Un-Finished Objects) to finish. Thus I call my retreat Swiss Finishing School.

(hee hee)

Ann is working on a disappearing 9-patch in these yummy batik colors.

Dorothy is working on blocks that her mother left her. They were not perfectly pieced so she is appliquéing them to a base block.
Kris is making this quilt for a cancer auction that she regularly participates in.
Swiss Finishing School is usually held the first week-end in February. You can find out more about it if you click here.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day has been my favorite movie for many years. For Mother's Day, a long time ago, my daughters bought me a copy. They figured it would save me time because I would not have to rent it. I think it saved me an hour per year, which has really added up over time.

To celebrate Groundhog Day, I have a sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist and drink to world peace.

3 D Photo

When my DH and I were in Houston, so I could teach at International Quilt Festival, we went to the Downtown Aquarium.

The aquarium features a full-service restaurant and bar that seats you around a 200,000 gallon tank populated with all manner of sea life. While we were there my DH took this picture with his Fuji 3D camera. If you look at it crossed eyed you can see it in 3D.

You can learn more about the Fuji 3D camera by clicking here.

Funny Saying

I was teaching in a Lutheran church in Chicago and this was posted in the bathroom.

I took a picture of it because I thought it was so funny.

I am hoping you do too!

If you can't read it click on it and it will become MUCH bigger.

Remotes

DON'T EVER LEAVE YOUR HUSBAND HOME ALONE WITH THE REMOTES. I did and this is how they ended up!!!

Quilter's Home Magazine

I found this in my inbox today. It is from Jake Finch, who is the editor of Quilter's Home Magazine. What she said is below this really cute vinyl apron, which is one of the things you can download from their website!

"Dear Quilt Friends, Non-Quilt Friends Who Like Me and Family:
I have a favor to ask.
If you are on FaceBook, would you consider going to this link (cut and paste into your browser as I couldn't figure out how to link--sad of me...) and clicking that you "like" Quilter's Home Magazine?
www.facebook.com/quiltershomemagazine
(Jake, they can just click on the link it will take them to your Face Book fan page)

As most of you know, Quilter's Home is the magazine for which I serve as editor. My co-editor and I are trying to increase our "friends" and this would help tremendously. If you don't want to, no worries. I'm not keeping track of who I asked, I won't bug you about it again and I'll still love you. But for my quilt-buds out there, we use our FB page to announce new things, ask silly and serious questions, find sources for articles and just generally engage with our readers. For the rest of you who already think my brain is full of thread and want nothing to do with quilts, just ignore us. :-)
So, please consider "liking" us if you would? Also, if you have friends or family who might enjoy participating, feel free to pass this on to them as well. The more, the merrier!
Many quilted hugs,
Jake Finch

Quilter's Home Magazine"

She sounds kind of desperate. I think we all should to it.

I am already a fan. You should be one too.

Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists

Here are pictures I took at the opening reception of the Turning Point show of the Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists at the Overture Center in Madison, WI.

This is me in front of my piece, Moonrise.

People spent along time reading what we had written. The show was up last week. One of our members attended the a concert of the Symphony Orchestra, and noticed that people had to lean over to read the artist statements. She and her friend move them up so the general public didn't have to strain their backs to read what we had written.

Here is what an overall shot. I told you there would be people in the way. The piece with the whooping crane is by Susan Jackan. It has the thoughtful title, Sharing Air. Below her piece is her artist statement.
Sharing Air
The reintroduction of the whooping crane in Necedah, Wisconsin represents a turning point in the survival of this ancient species of bird. Cranes share the air with plant life of nature and with the wind turbines dotting the landscape. Turbines signify a turning point in cleaner energy production.

HAPPY NEWS!!!

My eldest daughter (ED) and my SIL made my DH and I first time grandparents!!!

At 4:00 am January 23, 2011 ED gave birth to a 7 pound 6 oz, 19 ½ girl at Meriter Hospital in Madison, WI.

The happy family

They were married on August 2, 2008. They had a themed wedding called the Pirate and the Princess. Click on this link to see pictures of their wedding:

http://rust-tex.blogspot.com/2008/08/pirate-and-princess.html

Mother, father and baby are all doing well.

I did not post sooner because I was watching the Green Bay Packers trounce the Chicago Bears.

The Green Bay Packers are on their way to the Super Bowl!!!!

Go, Pack, Go!!!

Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists

Madison Contemporary Fiber Artists (MCFA) is having a show at the Overture Center in Madison, WI. If you are in the area come and see it. Here is one of the pieces. It is by Diane Dempsey, showing a detail of her piece Appalachian Spring.

The show is called, Turning Point.

We were suppose to write in about 100 words how this was a turning point in our lives. This is what Diane wrote:
My family lived in Kentucky in the 1980s and 1990s. There seemed to be one day each April – a true ‘turning point’—when every tree would burst into bloom: Redbuds, Cherries and Apples, Sweet Gum, Magnolia, Dogwoods, Sassafras, Spicebushes, Rhododendrons, Azaleas… I knew spring had finally arrived. All life had awakened, and the dull, gray days of winter were gone. In its place was the sudden spectacular beauty of spring. Moonscape

18” wide x 45” long
My piece is called, Moonscape. Here is my artist statement: The biggest turning point in my life came in 2004 when I saw a video on the internet. It showed women laying out white fabric in a junk yard. They came back in a few days. Marks had transferred from the rusty items to the fabric.
I did research on the internet about rust dyeing. In 2006 I wrote the Rust-Tex Instructional CD, which has 4 repeatable techniques on it.
I had so much fun rust dyeing I made more fabric than I could use in a 1,000 lifetimes. My new career became selling rust dyed fabric to art quilter.

The reception is Friday January 21, from 6-8 PM. Hope you can make it.

Exciting News!!!

Quilter's Home Magazine published this about Rust-Tex:

If you click on the picture you can read it what they wrote.

If you want a summary they are encouraging people to buy the "Trees Kit". It is their Feb/Mar 2011 issue if you want to buy it.

Whenever I am at JoAnn's Fabric Stores, and they have magazines at 10% off, I buy it. I like it so much I actually subscribed to it. You can too by clicking here! I can't actually send to the page where you can subscribe. If you go to the home page, in the upper right hand corner there is a place that says, "Subscribe Now".

Do it!!!

You will be happy you did.

Happy Birthday to the Queen

Every year on my birthday, which is in December, I invite the members of the UFO Club to "The Queen's Birthday Party". I am the Queen of the UFO Club, as I had the most Un-Finished Objects. I taught for 15 years and started a new project with my students every week for ten weeks, twice a year. When I stopped teaching I had over 100 UFO's!!! Which is how I became Queen. No one else had any where near that many. Eight years later, I am down to less than 70.

Whoo Hoo!

Way to go Lois!!!

Uni Wash

I was in England when I saw this amazing hand washing machine. It has a place where the soap and water come out and it has a hand dryer built into it. I have never seen a thing like this before so of course I had to take its picture. You can clearly see my reflection as I was lining up the picture.

When we were driving back from International Quilt Festival in Houston, I saw this machine is Arkansas. It is a Uni Wash. It is just not labeled as such but it worked exactly like the Uni Wash. Did you know they were in America?

"Blätz"

Margo, baked this Blätz for a retreat I recently went to. Her father was a baker in Switzerland, where she grew up. I guess you could say it is in her blood to bake this for us.