A Day at an Artist's Studio

It's been awhile since I have updated anything but will have some pictures to post hopefully with this blog entry.

We had a wonderful family Thanksgiving with daughters LJ and Zanne and Zanne's husband Justin, Warren and I. The weather got a little chilly but it was perfect for a Thanksgiving day. The kittens were exhausted by this time as Justin played with them almost continuously for the former two days!! They just wanted to sleep by that day.

This is Zanne and LJ in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the garlic mashed potatoes.

Warren and LJ spent the weekend putting up molding in LJ's living room and hallway and got pretty good at it by the end of Sunday. We all went out to eat after that day.

I have the good fortune of having a very old friend (Janice Mueller) lives here in Charlotte and we got together for the whole day today. She is a "later in life" artist who finished her BFA and MFA in her 40's and early 50's. She has been teaching design , painting and drawing classes at Winthrop College in Rock Hill SC for the past 10 years or so. Her early work was very representational but she is totally abstract now. She said she was probably most influenced by Mark Rothko . I really like her work and just love some of the pieces. I will have to ask her how much she wants for a couple of them as I would love to have them. She most often works in 5 x 5 foot planks of wood and layers tons of colors and then scrapes away and reapplies more color. We talked for a good two hours about her work and her process which I was most interested in.
This was one of the canvases in her studio.


This was one of two large paintings in her family room. The room is huge and handles these large canvases wonderfully.,


These two canvases sit side by side in her formal living rooms where the cats were
making themselves quite at home. My photos do not do her paintings justice. She works primarily in oils so they are very luminescent and difficult to photo with any light in the room. I will download her cd at some point and post her better pictures. She is an incredible photographer as well

She says she works primarily with things for which there is no representation -- ideas and thoughts. She is very interested in mythology so that influences her as well. She starts with a blank canvas and a thought about some colors she wants to work with and then the canvas starts talking to her. I certainly understand that process as many times my quilts tell me what they want done and I have no control. Her color that creeps into almost everything she does is blue -- mine is yellow. I must say that an awful lot of her pieces were primarily warm colors though -- might be because she sells more of her blue pieces -- I don't know. She allowed me to go through her house and studio and take lots of pictures so I may put up a Picasa album and certainly will put some on the blog. Of course, I will forget the names for each of the pieces however!! She also gave me a cd of many of her works.

Following the Fall Foliage!

Well, I am sitting in here in Charlotte, NC now at my eldest daughter's house! It was a beautiful drive yesterday down from Rochester. It was dark when we started but snowing by Williamsport. The trees were all glistening and silver but the snow wasn't sticking and wasn't a problem at all. It then turned to rain and then sunshine. It was just beautiful going through the mountains in the western part of Virgina and North Carolina. The trees were at peak. It would have been even prettier if we weren't driving south into the sun. The trees are out here despite a fierce drought (I am sure you all have heard about Atlanta and it is just as bad here.)

I am just posting a couple of pictures here of my daughter's cats and the wonderful sun porch where I spent my morning lazing about!

This is a picture of Lisa's two kitties out on the sunporch where it is in the mid 70's today!

This is the first of two posters or flyers that my daughter did for her band called Dance Music for Depressed People. It is some sort of fusion music which the younger might understand. She writes the music and lyrics with the help of band members and then designs the posters and writes the press releases. The first is a small handout that announces a concert.

The second is a poster which she did entirely by hand and then her husband inverted the image in Photoshop. (The other is all by hand as well.) I am truly amazed by her lettering and the way she does things. She just draws lines, never sketches loosely like I do. She also has done cartoons and that is the way she draws. She literally has had no art training at all except for a bit of a class at school probably in 7th grade.

Second Day of RAFA Opening

These two pictures give you some perspective of how the exhibit was laid out.

Well, we did not have as brisk an attendance as we did last night but we had a steady stream of visitors, many from GVQC so that was nice. We got to chat a bit more than last night. Our official figure for our opening night was 151 attendees which was excellent attendance according to the ladies at the Art Council. Besides our invitees, we had people who were members of the Arts Council come. The food was gone quickly!

It will be a few days before I update again as we are heading to Fla tomorrow very early. I will include a few additional pieces from the show though. I may not get the names of the pieces though!

This was one of Caren Betlinski's pictures. She does wonderful landscapes and incredible threadwork. Unfortunately, some of her even nicer pieces were in a trunk show she is giving tomorrow at Schweinfurth in Auburn NY She is one of my best customers for dyed fabrics.



This is one of three of Janet's pieces that were in the exhibit. One woman from the club today commented that she didn't know that Janet did art pieces -- she always thought of her as traditional!



The top one of these is another Nancy Hicks piece that she stamped using an actual fish that she got at the Public Market here in Rochester. She got this idea from some things she had seen the Japanese do, I believe. Carolyn Dahl talks about this in her book, the name of which escapes me right now. The bottom one is a piece called Study in Blue by Barb Seils. Barb is an active dyer as well and three of her scarves were in the exhibit.

RAFA Opening Reception ! WOW!!

WOW is all I can say about the turn out for the opening night reception. It was so crowded at times that it was impossible to take pictures! I did take a few and will post a couple here. It was exciting to me to see a few of the pieces (besides my own Yellowstone piece) that had my hand dyed fabric in them. It made me feel like I had a bigger piece of the action, so to speak!

I am in the final throes of trying to get ready to leave for almost two months tomorrow so it has been more than a little hectic! Things look relatively under control though. We woke up to snow on the ground (just a scattering) but this is the first time this winter.

This one of the fox by Anne Fischer got a lot of attention because of the wonderful thread work. She is one of several artists in the group who does terrific threadwork. It drew your eye from across the room.


I just loved this piece by Caris Burton. It is probably the colors which pulled me in as they are my favorites!



This one is by my friend Marcia DeCamp. She called it Slashed but may have to change the name!! One of my friends was really admiring it but said that the name scared her! She was thinking of blood and the slasher movies. I don't think that is what Marcia had in mind when she named it! I think it was named more after the technique she used!


This is a self portrait done by our own Nancy Hicks. She was the driver behind joining the Arts organization and setting up a show. We can't thank her enough for all her efforts and push. She and Pat Pauly are our spiritual leaders if not our actual leaders!


This stands out as my husband's very favorite in the show! He is definitely not into fiber at all and yet was sincerely very impressed with the show. His reaction this morning is that the ones that were the most interesting were the ones that looked good from a distance and yet were much more complex when you looked closer. He said I have to get more complex! I agree (for once)!! I think that is why I like my newer version better!

More Recipes

Well, I am taking several of my recipes down on our long trip ahead so thought I would post them as well so I will never forget them! I have most of my recipes stored on my old outdated computer which is upstairs and takes forever to load up!

Anyway, here is my sweet yeast bread recipe. I have substituted soy milk for real milk (for someone lactose intolerant) in this recipe and it was just fine.

Sweet Rolls

1/2 cup warm (NOT HOT) water and 2 pkgs yeast. Dissolve for 5 minutes
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening (melted and cooled down)
7 - 7/12 cups flour (bread flour is even better)

Mix all the above, adding the flour little by little. It should completely come away from the side of the bowl at the end. Knead for a bit and then place in a greased bowl and cover with a piece of plastic (you might spread some shortening on the top so it won't stick). Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down the mixture. There is enough to make about 3 dozen rolls. I split it into 3 bunches about the same and one I roll out flat as I can and spread on light layer of margarine or butter and sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar mixture and then roll up. I then cut and make pinwheels. I also roll out, butter and cut into 1 1/2 inch wide strips which I then stack and then place sideways into muffin pans -- you get these great pull apart rolls. I also roll the dough out into a big circle and cut into 12 sections, butter, and then roll up to make crousants.  Then let rise for another half an hour and then bake.There are a million variations here!

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until nicely browned on top.  I usually check after about 10 minutes to see how they are doing.Cool before storing.


Oatmeal Crisps (or Oatmeal cookies) Farm Journal Cookie Cookbook

2 cups butter (1 lb)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

3 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

6 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups raisins

Combine first four ingredients and beat until fluffy. Mix together the next three and slowly add to the mixture. Slowly beat in the oats and then add in the raisins last. This makes a lot of cookies (14 dozen)!! This dough keeps nicely in a plastic container in the refrigerator so you can make a dozen at a time.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Cream together butter and sugar and then add eggs and beat. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Alternate adding in the flour mixture and the mashed bananas until all added. Stir in the walnuts. Spray or grease loaf pans (medium sized) and then flour. Pour in the batter which should come up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes. Test by inserting a straw which should come out reasonably clean.

I usually double this recipe and make four loaves.

Pictures from Schweinfurth!

Well, I bet you thought there might be quilt pictures. Well, jokes on us. They no longer alow you to take pictures of the quilts at Schweinfurth as some people published them and didn't properly attribute them or took poor pictures so some artists complained. Well, that ends that. It just is not as much fun if you can't take pictures to look at later or to share with far away friends, or even the artists themselves, many of whom don't get to see their work in the exhibit. Well, too bad. I will get slammed, if I say what I really think, so I won't! It has been part of my fall ritual for years but may no longer be! I got not using flashes, but no pictures....

The Amish Royal Cross

Well, it's done! I have decided to go with the green in the cornerstones as the fuchsia and turquoise were just too stark. Also decided that it looks "artier" if I do no traditional borders or binding. Again, it will have to wait until I return from the Fla trip. There will be plenty of cold days then to finish up quilts and maybe do a little dyeing.



I couldn't help myself yesterday as the weather was beautiful and I went out just in the yard to take pictures of the trees against the beautiful dark blue sky. This has been such an unusual autumn so I just had to take advantage of it! Of course our nasty neighbor in the back interrupted my pleasant picture taking by demanding that I cut away the undergrowth from his fence on our side! I don't think so. He then screamed that he would call his lawyer which was just fine with me. I still have the pictures showing the tree he killed when he trespassed on our property while we were in Alaska. Our next door neighbor even called the police as he knew we wouldn't want this done. This guy has been a problem since before we moved in. We like our heavily wooded lot and he likes pristine grass. He came on to our property last summer and chopped away at all the trees blocking the view of his house. He managed to kill one of them by taking all the branches off. We have such lovely neighbors on both sides of our house as well as the other neighbor whose back yard backs up to ours. Why is there always one in a neighborhood?

Two of My Favorite Recipes for Crockpot Cooking - Both Pretty Spicey!

This is a picture of the completed chili in a container waiting to take up residence in Lisa's freezer.

Well, here are two of my favorite crockpot recipes. Neither was originally for crockpots but it is so much easier to cook them that way than to stand over the stove adjusting the heat every ten minutes. The longest part is the slicing and dicing I do ahead of time. I also tend to precook meats as I don't like the slime that forms on top of the crockpot if you cook them from scratch there. For what they are worth, here is my CHILI recipe:

Large crockpot (5/12 quart to 6 quart)
2 lbs of ground turkey
2 lbs of lean round, sliced into thin strips about two inches long
2 peppers (I like red and orange ones and sometimes add another one as well), chopped
2 large onions chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
2 16 oz cans of plain tomato sauce
1 can of water (rinse out those cans)
6 tbsp chile powder (it's not too hot)
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tsps cumin
1 tbsp salt (adjust to your requirements)
1 1/2 tsps oregano

2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans pinto beans(drained and rinsed)

Cut up all the veggies and put on the bottom of the crockpot. Cook the strips of beef and ground turkey until no longer red in olive oil (very little). Add into the crockpot and then put everything but the beans into the crockpot and cook for about four hours on high. Then add the cans of beans and give it a stir and cook on low for another 3 or 4 hours. Look at during the latter time to see if you think it is done. It tastes best when reheated for some reason.

I like to serve it with some shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack (or both) cheese on top and some corn chips. We have also used it to make nachos as it gets pretty thick over time. It is relatively lean because of the turkey and lean beef but you could put regular beef in instead of the turkey. We substitute turkey for about everything we used to use ground beef for -- we actually like the taste better and I don't get my normal beef night sweats!!

BEEF CURRY -- Probably Vindaloo

2 lbs lean beef cut into one inch chunks
2 cups beef stock
1 cinnamin stick
6 whole cloves
1 sq inch of ginger root
1 tsp chili powder
1-2 tbsp curry powder
5 Cardamom seeds (the contents of)
1 onion, sliced up
1 clove garlic, minced
1-2 tbsps of ketchup or tomato sauce (this breaks down the beef faster)
Salt and black pepper to taste

Coat the beef with thin dusting of flower in a bag. Brown in olive oil until you don't see red. Brown onion and garlic in the leftover- add some olive oil if need be. I actually two cups of water here and use this as my beef stock. At this point I throw everything in the crockpot and let it cook on high for four or five hours and then taste to see if the beef is tender. I make sure that the stock covers the beef. This is another one that tastes better reheated. I serve it with Basmati Rice (a wonderful nutty rice but brown rice would be good too) and Nan (an Indian bread) if I can find it.

Saturday and Some Dyeing Information! No Pictures!

Well, will probably post progress on my piece from class yesterday tomorrow but thought I would put some dyeing information up on the blog today as questions appear periodically on many of the lists about what dyes to buy etc. so here goes. The list has first the Procion official name, then the ProChem number(www.Prochemical.com), ProChem name, Dharma Number (www.Dharmatrading.com) and then Dharma name and then the color it discharges to. A double dash means that Dharma doesn't currently carry that color. A lot of this information was from Paula Birch's web site which is an excellent resource for any dyer. I have added some of my own "stuff" as I was always getting questions in my classes.
Pure Colors
Yellow MX-4G, 114 ,Lemon Yellow ,- - Paler yellow
Yellow MX-8G, 108 ,Sun Yellow, #1 ,Lemon ,Yellow Pale yellow or white
Yellow MX-3R, 104 ,Golden Yellow, #4, Deep Yellow ,Doesn't Discharge
Yellow MX-GR, 112 ,Tangerine, #3 ,Golden Yellow, Darker yellow
Orange MX-2R, 202 ,Strong Orange, #6, Deep Orange, Pale yellow
Red MX-5B, 305 ,Mixing Red, #12, Light Red, Ocre or white
Red MX-8B, 308 ,Fushsia, #13, Fushsia ,Red, Ocre or yellow
Violet MX-BR, 802, Boysenberry ,- - White
Violet MX-GN, 801, Grape ,- - White
Blue MX-R, 400 ,Basic Blue, #26 ,Sky Blue ,Blue/gray
Blue MX-2G, 402C, Mixing Blue #22, Cobalt Blue, Soft pink or white
Blue MX-G, 406 ,Intense Blue #23, Cerulean Blue, Doesn't Discharge
Blue MX-4GD, 414, Navy Blue, -, - , White
Turquoise MX-G, 410, Turquoise, #25, Turquoise, Pale Turquoise

Mixed Dyes
210 Apricot pale yellow
Blue MX-G 404 Bright Blue doesn't discharge
MX-CWA 608 Black grey

700N Leaf Green
711 Brightest Green
Red MX-GBA 312 Strongest Red #10A Chinese Red Yellow
310N Basic Red
601 Mixing Grey grey or white
810 Violet-Blue pale pink or white


My recommendations for a beginning dyer who wants to get started with MX dyes is the following:


MX3R - Golden Yellow -- warm earthy yellow that makes great greens and reds
MX5B - Mixing Red (ProChem) -- this mixes well with other dyes in low water immersion although not as bright as fuchsia
MX8B - Fuchsia -- a bright red which doesn't play well in lwi but is a great color for direct application or vat dyeing
MX2G - Mixing Blue(ProChem name) - a dull blue that mixes well with other dyes and makes great greens and decent purples
MXG - Intense Blue(ProChem name) - a bright blue
MXG Turquoise - a very bright color but one that does require a little heat to move it along. Takes the longest to attach to fibers but a great mixing color for bright greens.

Then I would add:

MXR - Sky or Basic Blue which is a weak blue and takes a bit longer to bond but is beautiful for skies and mixing with reds for purples
MX8G - Sun or Lemon yellow depending upon where you buy it -- bright, bright yellow which mixes well with turquoise and fuchsia
MX2R - Strong Orange which is great with Mixing Blue or Navy to make wonderful rich browns. Also good for mixing with fuchsia to make a good strong red.
MX4GD or Navy Blue - I don't believe Dharma has this but it is a much clearer dark blue than the Mixing Blue and great for making greens and browns when added with strong orange.
MXCWA - Black which tends to the bluish side. I generally make my own neutrals but this is good for mixing to darken things up a bit but it will tend to make it a bit muddy.

The Sun Yellow in the second bunch is a real candidate for the must haves if you like really bright colors. I used to buy twice as much of this as any other color (and I usually buy more yellow than the others as it takes so much more to "move" the reds and blues which are very strong colors) but lately I have found I preferred the mixed colors I have made with Golden Yellow. A good rule of thumb is to use the cheaper pure colors to mix your colors, ie use the golden yellow with red to make orange rather than bright yellow. The golden yellow tends already to the red side. Same goes for blues. All the blues except for Basic Blue (ProChem name) tend toward green and therefore are a smarter move for mixing greens. Basic Blue tends to mix better with red. It takes more and more money to try to make a "purer" color (one which does not tend to one direction or the other as color is really a continuum, not a distinct point). However, it gets even more complicated as some of the colors are "clearer" than others and will always give you a brighter color even if you break the above rule of thumb!! The brightest of the MX pure colors are Turquoise, Sun Yellow and Fuchsia. I believe their pure Navy is also quite "bright". However, some of us have a rather heavy hand with our dye powders and tend to make some pretty concentrated colors. Elin Noble suggested that most of the colors are best when used at about 3% -- they are automatically brighter.

There is just so much to learn about these dyes. A lot of the information out there is opinion and the same goes for what I post.

There are several people out there in cyberland and the real world whose opinions I value and trust -- Doug Wilson and Paula Birch(www.pbirch.net) who regularly post to Dyerslist (a must do digest for anyone who is serious about dyeing), Elin Noble(www.elinnoble.com) -- a world class dyer who combines the art with the science and never hesitates to say she doesn't know if she doesn't, and Ann Johnson(www.annjohnston.net) who is the pioneer of low water immersion dyeing and who took direct dyeing to whole new levels.

A Day with Sharyn Craig

Couldn't resist another autumn picture!


This was Sharyn with one of my favorites of her quilts.

Well, we had a fantastic class today with Sharyn Craig. I first saw Sharyn out at Asilomar although I had seen many of her columns in one of my quilting magazines and had several of her books. She is just one of the most fun teachers I think we have had at GVQC and I really enjoyed her class today. I picked up many helpful hints as well as some wonderful templates and directions for future quilts.

Of course, I started the day by forgetting both my already made lunch and my camera but went home at lunch and got both so there are a few pictures from the afternoon which I will post below. I may get ambitious and finish more of my blocks tonight. They went really quickly and I got four done in class in no time. It is a really fun block as well and there are so many ways you can twist the colors and values. What I didn't realize was that the block is a 9-patch as the division of the parts is in thirds in both directions so I think there are possibilities for alternate squares with this one as well!



These are the variety of blocks we did in class. Sharyn gave instructions for sizes of strips but didn't not say anything about values or colors so there was quite a variety which will look totally different when made up!


Here is someone in the class with four done and put together. I think it might have been Paula Melino


Isn't this a pretty block!


Here is a display of more of the different blocks we created.
This was Sharyn demonstrating some of her techniques with her attentive audience.
Here are three of the four blocks I got done in class. I made two more tonight but did get all the pieces cut out for six more blocks.

Genesee Valley Quilt Club - November Meeting

This was a series of quilt blocks that were all red, white and blue and Sharyn used this set to disguise that fact as she didn't want a red, white a blue quilt then.


The program today was exceptional! I knew it would be as I had seen Sharyn out at Asilomar probably 7 years ago now and she made a tremendous impression on me even though I rarely if ever take traditional quilting classes. At Asilomar, Sharyn along with the other speakers at the evening program was given only five minutes to tell about themselves and what they do. Well Sharyn spoke at about 100 mph, interrupting her fast talking with inserted comments. She was better than most stand up comics and had tears rolling down our faces by the end of her five minutes. It was an incredible performance. She certainly didn't disappoint today either as she was one of the best if not the best speakers we have ever had at Genesee Valley -- even my non-quilting friend Priscilla wanted some blocks to play with by the end of her talk which was about Setting Solutions. I took a whole bunch of pictures of Sharyn's quilts and will ask tomorrow if I can put some of the pictures in my blog.

After the meeting was over, we had a new sub group that has formed in the quilt club which will be devoted to vintage quilts so that should be fun as well. I love looking at old quilts. I was busily working on my little hand project so didn't take any pictures then but may as time goes on.

Tomorrow, Sharyn is teaching a class on one specific block and has another whole suitcase of quilts that she will be showing in that class. The class filled up as I was sure it would as soon as everyone heard her speak!! I lobbied for her name on the list several years ago and she was booked up until now! She is retiring next year so we were very lucky to get her! The following are many of the quilts we saw during her talk on setting solutions. She uses settings to change the color of the blocks, get them all looking the same size and putting together blocks of very disparate sizes and colors.


These blocks were different sizes and she twisted and turned them so you just don't notice!



There are coping strips here so that you can make all the blocks the same size.


This was a very strong set with dark strips to make everything blend together.


This one had lots of coping strips and a set to make the colors look different. The coping strips make the blocks look all the same size.


In this one she used red coping strips and a strong blue set.

Priscilla's Embellishment Class

I could resist taking this picture out my car window on the way to Marcia's! The sky was very grey but the sun was shining over my house
What a fantastic day!! Not often you get the chance to take a class for the third time and still learn something new! Priscilla keeps updating this class and adding new things so it was great fun. Add to that a day spent with a bunch of really talented creative ladies and the best venue of all -- Marcia's studio -- how much better can it get! Both Priscilla and Marcia have pictures on their blog pages but maybe I can add a couple of new ones with some luck!


These were all the things that Priscilla was doing with pleater boards. I think everyone will order one that doesn't already have one. I am heading over to Crafts and Things in Fairport to get a hairpin lace loom myself -- probably one I donated!


These are the various seminole samples that were done in class. Mine is the red and black one which isn't too outstanding but will be okay for a garment. I am taking all my samples and putting them into the bag I keep with all the reds and blacks for a future jacket.


This is the cuff made with the hairpin lace loom and miscellaneous yarns. Everyone loved this. This happens to be on the coat that you will see below with our teacher modeling it for us!

This is Priscilla modelling her coat for us. It is made with scrunched fabric which is then stitched to death with all sorts of embellishments. Priscilla wore this to her luncheon in Houston. There is the hairpin lace yarn trim around the whole coat and the sleeves. Priscilla says this is the turkish folkwear coat which she has made many, many times.

Saturday -- Another Gorgeous Fall Day!!

Well, I have said that if this is global warming, I am all for it!! We NEVER have beautiful days around here when the foliage is at it's near peak or better! It is always grey and gloomy so this fall has been a real treat. Unfortunately, the dry weather has resulted in not as much color in the trees as usual but we still see some color and up against the azure sky, stunning! Nothing like complementary colors to really sparkle









I did manage to finish at least the "inside" of the top I started yesterday. I am going to surround it with a strip of muslin and then border or borders depending upon my mood. I am determined to get the baby quilt for Lisa's friend Cheryl done this weekend as well so will probably not do more on this top until January now with all the vacations/holidays coming up.

Fall Migration - Genesee Valley Quilt Club (GVQC)

To see the pictures bigger, just click on the slideshow and it will take you to Picasa and you can see the show there.

Well, as far as we can tell, GVQC is the oldest continuously meeting non-church affiliated quilt club in the country. The final verdict is yet to be determined. We certainly have the best documentation.


Every other fall and maybe every fall from now on, we have something called Fall Migration. Today I found out from Janet Root why it is called that! The first time she and Roz Smith facilitated one of the fall gatherings, they used blocks that featured geese so their theme for the year was Fall Migration. It was never intended to be called that forever, but the name stuck. We spend the day quilting on some usually fairly simple pattern but with lots of variations. We have a catered continental breakfast and a buffet lunch at one of the local party houses. A good time is always had by all and we always meet new people.

I tried to get pictures of everyone's projects, but some were just too fast in holding them up and then taking them down. I also didn't know everyone's name but will do my best! So below are some the pictures from the day. I also included a slide show with more pictures. which will take you to my Picasa page for a slide show if you click on it. Also the pictures will get much bigger if you click on them on this page. I managed to almost finish my lapsized project made with leftovers from the Fall Migration two years ago. All I had to cut were the white snowballs. It was fast and fun!



Marianna Zimmer and Barbara Brummond are sewing away diligently!
Mary Anne Smith at the beginning of her very colorful version.
This is my humble beginning. I did manage to almost finish the top by the end of the day. It was made with the scraps from Fall Migration two years ago and I still have some of those squares left!!