Another barter quilt

I have another barter quilt to work on. Once again, it is for sculpture -- a bronze cat this time. There are going to be 97 different fabrics in the top and number 98 will end up on the backside. You can see a portion of the design there on the upper right of the college 

Very earthy looking, isn't it? The design needs to be fiddled with a bit, but overall it is good.

I will be referencing this quilt as Clara's Quilt.

Love for a Lifetime

At the quilt show this past weekend I saw this quilt by Peggy Parrot entitled "Love for a Lifetime".

I really like this quilt as it reminded me of George Lundeen's sculpture "Valentine".

Love is ageless.

I'm Seeing Red

Work on the Alabama quilt has progressed nicely. Oops! I guess I forgot to say anything about this one didn't I? It's another barter quilt. Yes, I know I said I was not going to do this again but really now, what better way to get a nice bronze sculpture than to barter? Anyway, if you stand on your head while looking at this photo you can see the nice cursive letter 'A' that is so familiar to the University of Alabama fans. This is the back side of the quilt. I am using red thread exclusively on the back and for the majority of the front. But this section on the front needed white thread and it is showing up on the backing as white dots. Once the quilting is finished, I will take a red pigma pen and touch each one of those white dots and POOF! they will disappear. 

Are you counting the barter quilt/sculptures? This one make #4.

Emergence

Remember the Double 4-patch barter quilt? Here's what I got in trade: a lovely solid bronze statue.

It's a beauty, isn't it?

Double Four Patch

I love a good barter and I can't seem to stop trading. What did I do this time? It is for another bronze statue. This is from a young new artist. He wants a king sized quilt in earth tones and I wanted this one of a kind bronze. The majority of the four patches were already made as leaders and enders ala Bonnie Hunter so I didn't have to make too many more. I raided my 5" square bins and came up with a lot that will work by cutting them down to 4.5". The rest of the squares will be cut from yardage and fat quarters. This will be a true scrappy stash quilt even the batting and backing are from stash.

This is  the UFO/WIP that I need to finish first. Stay tuned for progress reports.

Alternative Energy

These sculptures were half life-size and are just great. They are from a sculpting married couple, Shelley and Michael Buonaiuto. Aren't they great? The dancing lady is "Sun"(Light Dance) and the woman on the flying carpet is "Wind"(Wild Ride). I urge you to follow the link to their website. Just remember to come back here.

This started out to be just a quick post to let you all know that I've put up another free knitting pattern. You can find the link on my side bar for the O-So Simple Hat.

Have a great weekend. Our's is going to be rainy and cold. It is 25 degrees colder than on Monday. Can you believe it?

Unexpected Visitor

Even bears like art! This was in the morning paper.

And read to the end of this post for news of a giveaway!

Black bear roams through Loveland

Reporter Herald staff

LOVELAND — A small black bear was on the loose in Loveland and may have traveled through the sculpture shows early Sunday morning before it was tranquilized and taken away by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

The bear, which was estimated to weigh between 50 and 60 pounds, was first spotted in the 1400 block of Antero Drive at about 6 a.m., said Sgt. Bob Shaffer of the Loveland Police Department.

Police did not find the bear until it was near Lake Loveland, which means it crossed 29th Street and may have gone through the sculpture shows being held at Benson Park Sculpture Garden and North Lake Park.

The bear was followed by police around Lake Loveland before it climbed a tree in the 1400 block of Lake Drive. Division of Wildlife officials tranquilized the bear with a dart and took it to an unknown location.

Now, about the giveaway. Cheryl over at Polka Dots and Rick Rack is having a super giveaway for her one year blogiversary. Go check it out!

Saturday afternoon

I am @ the sculpture show. what do u think of this dress? looks like something Barbie would wear, doesn't it?

Update: I posted the above from my cell phone.

Coffee Klatch

Pull up a chair and set down. I'll pour the coffee and set out the sweet rolls. How've you been? Me? I have been very, very busy.

I went to Denver City on Saturday. And guess what? I saw vultures. Circling over the courthouse in my little town. I wonder what that means? And the corn in the fields was higher than the top of your head. Over in that field I saw cows standing belly deep in a pond. And beyond that there were 4 deputy sheriffs on horseback! Not in a parade or at the fair, but over by Platteville where the veggie farms are located. I wonder what they were looking for? The hay has been harvested and all the hay fields are sporting flattops.

O my it was hot! 103 degrees F (39 degrees C). But the trip was a necessity. You see, I met with a real estate agent to list Auntie's condo. Yay! It is officially on the market. I hope it sells quickly. I told the agent I was willing to negotiate, within reason. I am so glad not to have to go into that place again to work.

Then I went on to the new apartment in the assisted living and was able to have a nice visit with Auntie. She had complained about the heat and I said to turn the AC on. She told me that it blows on her shoulder and chills her so I took a portable oscillating fan and set it up in a corner so it blows throughout the room. I also took about a half dozen books for her and swapped them out for the ones I left last time. She is such a voracious reader that I am spending a small fortune in books. Thank goodness for used book stores. I have started to buy an occasional used hardback because the type is bigger.

I spent a bit of time last week making a blouse sloper for her out of some 50cent a yard pink and white check fabric. She thought it was a real blouse until I had her put it on and she realized there was one long sleeve and one short sleeve. I will only have to make minor adjustments to the pattern thank goodness. She was thrilled to realize that I was going to make some blouses for her. I took five different fashion fabrics down with me, you know the kind -- the slinky, slippery stuff. I wanted her to pick out the ones she wanted. You guessed it, she wanted them all: two long sleeved and 3 short sleeved. Then she said how 'bout some slacks? Well, erm, one thing at a time, ok?

We have been getting some estimates to replace the clerestory windows in the house. One of the thermal windows is actually cracked on both sides. We are in the queue for 3-5 weeks out. That will give me a chance to make some more of the Warm Window blinds like in this post. These are not hard to make and are great if one is trying to either reduce heat gain in the summer or forestall heat loss in the winter and as a quilter I am set up with the space needed to sew on something like this. I actually saved $$$ on all the fabrics and hardware by using those Joann Fabric 40% and 50% off coupons to buy everything I needed. It has taken about a year but now I'm all set. Just need to get started.

The sculpture shows are this weekend. Can you believe that I actually get paid to hang out in an artful place and talk to people and sell some art? Tough job but somebody's got to do it.

I currently have two quilts at the long arm quilter. One of them is the Homespun BOM. When I get it back and bound I am planning on a bit of a giveaway. Stay tuned for more information on that.

Approaching Lavender

I really do not know where the week has gone! It has just sped by.

I have been out in the yarden catching up on dead-heading the flowers. The carnations are the worst ones because there are hundreds of dead flower heads to be removed. At least with lavender you can use the dried ones in sachets and potpourris. I have always wanted to make some Lavender Wands but never think of it in time. Lavender grows exceedingly well in my garden and therefore I have a lot. The bees are happy because there is a lot of nectar in lavender flowers.

One batch of company has left and I'm getting ready for another. The sculpture show is also fast approaching. I am not looking forward to working for 12 days straight; no, indeed not. Everyone at work has this nasty summer cold except me. The guys tease me about using my disinfectant all the time, but I just look at them and ask "Who is the sick one?". Everyone, and I mean everyone at work will sit at my desk sometime during the day. My can of disinfectant spray is always close at hand. CarGuy and I are going to Denver-town today to finish up the last bits of Auntie's condo: hanging doors, cleaning the shelves in the cabinets, washing windows, etc. Then I can hand it over to a Realtor, yay!

My local yarn shop had a sidewalk sale yesterday. Yes, I indulged in a total of 9 skeins of yarn all at 50% off. I also picked up a rice basket to use as a new yarn basket beside the sofa, 20% off.

I dropped this quilt off at my long arm quilter on Thursday. Now 'dropped' is a decieving term. I have to drive about 30 miles to get to Quilted Expressions. It is a special trip, a destination if you will. Ill get the quilt back in about 3-4 weeks. I'm in no hurry. I've moved on to another project, but will return to this when it is time to do the binding.

Bike To Work Day

Today is the day that all the people who DON'T ride their bikes to ride their bike to work. Can you say heart attack or heat stroke? The premise is good: to get people to ride a bicycle to work for one day. But really. How many people will ride it one way and then wimp out?

Ok, enuff ranting.

I ride my bicycle to work every day I can. In fact, it is working out to be 4 out of 5 days. I ride 10 miles (16 km) round trip. My time is better from when I first started riding. It now takes me 25 minutes rather than 45 minutes. I need to figure out how much money I am saving by not consuming so much gasoline. I also spend less money shopping because, frankly, it is hard to carry items on a bicycle. I will have to do a photo journey for you one of these days on my bike route.

The picture was taken in front of my favorite book store/coffee shop, both of them independents (Anthology Book Company and The Coffee Tree) not chains. Notice the bronze cougar bench? Sculpture by Rosetta. This is the type of thing we have all over town.

Update: thanks to Iron Needles I how much I am saving.
Your Result Per Day Per Week Per Year**
Possible savings: $7.30 $29.20 $1,460.00
Calories burned: 360 calories 1,440 72,000
calories calories
Reduction in carbon 0.51 lbs 2.05 lbs 102.40 lbs
monoxide emissions:

** Based on a 50-week work year.

A Good Time Was Had By All...

Every time I see the title phrase in some newsletter I always chuckle. Did the writer use that phrase mockingly or earnestly? I am using it both ways.

I'm back from the Sculpture Show and I bring pictures. This show happens every year on the second weekend in August. Three days of sculpture. Why am I involved? Because I am the office/gallery manager for a well-known bronze sculptor. There were 9 tents with ~38 sculptors per tent, several food/coffee/lemonade booths, volunteer stations, Emerging Artist tent, and Vendor's Supply tent. Here's a short picture tour of this year's show:

When we first enter the show grounds this is what we see. The head is approximately 16 feet tall (or taller). Because of it's size this is called a monumental piece. The tent to the right of the head is the Emerging Artists tent where children and teens can go and get their hands on some clay for sculpting experience. See Chester Fields's eagles there in the background? We are in tent 4 which is to the left of the tent behind the eagles.

To our left is tent 6. In front of the tent is this magnificent monumental piece: "Turning Point" by Jocelyn Russell. This is a commission by BYU. Can you guess the price?

Did you guess $52,500.00?

We are just about to our tent. Look at these two pieces! Totally unlike but very evocative of each other. The white one on the left is "Novus Grande" by Harold Linke and the bronze is "Ballerina" by Barry Woods Johnston. Very nice.

We are now standing outside our tent. This is how long it is. Image 9 of these tents!

Once inside we find our spot. Sidebar: this year we did not take any life-sized or monumental pieces so setup and teardown was a breeze. This is the view from behind our table looking across the width of the tent. You can see Mark's "Lincoln" and the saloon girl from "Cowpokes".

And this is Lindsey. She has the booth right next to us. She's bringing out the whale that she sees in this piece of alabaster.

I hope you enjoyed our virtual tour of the sculpture show.

Sculpture Show's A Comin'

The tune "The Wells Fargo Wagon" from the musical The Music Man was my earworm when I titled this piece. No photos in this post (I promise some after the weekend) but I have a lot of links for you. For the next 2 weeks I'll be really busy working and recovering from this coming weekend. I work for a sculptor and this is where I'll be over the weekend: the Loveland Sculpture Invitational. It is a good time to build clientel and to network. Your patrons show up and so do the gallery owners. You take orders for life-size and monumental pieces or small tabletop sizes.; commissions happen too. We are taking a lower profile this year because of a very large project/commission that will take the next 18 months. Therefore we are only taking smaller pieces and no large ones. Setup and teardown will be a breeze! Yeah!

Running concurrently is Sculpture in the Park , another sculpture show, and Art in the Park, "which features handmade treasures and artwork from crafters and artists througout the nation". Here's an article online from the local newspaper. Yes, dear readers, three (count 'em) three! art-y type shows all in one weekend. Streets are blocked off and shuttle buses run back and forth from the local mall's parking lot. Three days of fun and sun and lots of people.

I don't sculpt. But I have cleaned clay and worked on the molding crew. Maybe some day... naw -- I like my fabric.

Houseplants and Dragons

I grow a lot of Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera Bridgesii). This year I was late in getting them their 12 hours of darkness which, in turn, is making them bloom later. This variety is called "Kris Kringle" but this year could be called "Valentine" as it is blooming now!
Also, remember on January 17 I posted about a new quilt? Take a look at my payment. This small sculpture is solid bronze. I have the option to take it back and get a new patina put on it. I want to live with it a bit to see if I like the color. I am thinking a little bit more difference between the ball and the dragon would be nice. Also, I am not a big fan of the old-school type patinas (where one chemical was used throughout) like what this portrays. I would like to see a little more color like what you see on the launch and re-entry suit of this piece. What do you think?