Home from work and wondering about how I manage my life with a full time job, lots of dog training, quilting and friends. I chose not to work for over two years and felt like my life was full. Now, I feel like it is also full but I do not feel like I am rushing around. I have cut down on fabric petting time - just work on various projects. I did complete my color theory class project. The month of June was about creating either a "warm" piece or a "cool" piece. I decided I would use yellow (definitely) 'warm' and practice my fabric fusing. I used a gray mottled background and really felt that cooled the picture down. So, I used the same elements - red dot, curves and a second circle, and created the same type of piece all in yellow. Did not like the two pieces until I started quilting them but I have become attached to them. I think they represent some major elements in my life and I did not even know that was what I was doing.

I tend to accumulate fabrics. Two weekends ago I was not feeling inspired so I decided I would just play with my brown fabrics and use some of them up. I did a basic stack and wack and had a lot of fun. The top is going off to be quilted by Karen Niemi today. Just wanted to show this because this was fun and crafty.

Father's Day. Not a day that I have celebrated since my father died a long time ago (I was in my mid-20's). At that time I was not getting along with my parents so I had no idea that he was damaged from earlier chemo. Since then, over the years he has come and visited me and we resolved many of our issues. I just started a Quilt University class called realistic portraits and I decided to do his picture. I was leaning to a picture of him when he was thin and sick. Last night while I slept, I realized that he would have wanted a picture when he was healthy, had a mustache and was in a blue shirt. I found a picture to use and all I have to do is change the shirt and let his pale blue eyes shine.

I have definitely confused myself. Two years ago I went to another quilt guilds show and was blown away by the quilts there. They put the show on every two years and so I went to their next show last Saturday. I know the quality of work was the same, but all I could see is that the vast majority used patterns and then used a machine quilter. I did not see the originiality that I was expecting but saw basic color combinations (i.e. blue and yellow) and set patterns. There were a few wonderful pieces but they were the exception. This really bothers me because I have to have been the one to change and I do not know what the change means.

Very exciting today - I actually went and dropped off my entry application for "My Scream About Zac" to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, Colorado for their 'Orange You Glad' exhibit. This is my first entry to a big exhibit and, at this moment, it does not matter if I actually get a piece in or not - it just matters that I did this. The entry closing date is June 9th and I do not expect to hear from anyone until sometime in late July. The exhibit will start in late August and run for two months. !!!!

Been working hard between a full time job, my color theory class and a quilt university class. I finished the last piece on illumination - two penguins walking away. This is a big wall hanging for me, about 42 inch wide and 33 inch high. I hung it last night in my living room and had this moment - this sense that the piece moved away from me, got a life and was beautiful. I jumped around for a few minutes with my dogs to celebrate. So I show this piece with amazement and pride in my heart.

Been spending the weekend at the Denver national quilt festival and loving it. Can not be the skill, variety and imagination of these quilts and the vendors rows were pretty good. People praise my work but it is not close to the level of work that I saw there. I have a long way to go but it a fun road that I am traveling. I have been taking a quilt university class called Art for Quilters with Marilyn Bedford. Excellent lessons and I am getting a lot out of it. Once again, with quilting, I have to spend the hours and have hands on to really learn. I get to post my work and get some feedback. These are just quick (ok not so quick) fused works to play with concepts but I am please with how they came out.

I worked on my Color Theory Class using Illumination. The goal is to get parts of the quilt to appear to glow, either with much brighter colors or outstanding colors (i.e. pure light colors on a black background). I used a pattern that appeared in the current American Quilter called fractures to try out breaking up a flower. I think that it came out decently but I would not fuse again (she suggests using 1/8 inch seams) and would stick to the 1.5 inch squares. I am also going to show a larger quilt piece that I completed two years ago - I altered a shoofly block to get the effect. I am also trying to put a penguin picture together using the sun to create the effect but I am having problems with it - instead spending time working on my quilt guild's brown bag exchange.

The wedding is over and was quite successful. Had a fun drive from Denver to Kansas City through a series of tornado storms, spent more time with my brother and sister-in-law than I had for over twenty years (and had fun), saw lots of family and watched a fun wedding. Yes, my sister, you can have a victory dance. The dogs survived their kennelling with few problems and I was able to get back to quilting with an easy mind. Had another double complement piece to do so I used the paintings by Tarvay as the basis for some resting woman. I included a small memory of Zac in the piece since he died during its creation. Got to say that my quilting work has improved greatly. I got to include some silk ribbon work which I am just learning but it seemed to get lost in the larger picture.

Mazel Tov Zachary GPS June 10, 1992 – March 21, 2006 I had to put a good friend down last night. Few of you know him, he never won anything, never did anything special for the breed, and the only mark he made was in my heart. Zac was four months old when I got him. I was supposed to get a chessie pup from a big-shot local breeder who called me a few hours before I was to leave to get the pup to tell me that it was not available to me. That was going to be my first “well-bred” chessie, a big move up for me. My friend aimed me to an ad in the local paper and we went and found Zac. He did not like his first car ride with us, actually, he never did like car rides and I bought a 4x4 pickup truck with a cab on the back so he could pace back there. Since he still muttered and screamed through every trip, I finally got a van and stuffed him in a crate. He loved being places, just did not enjoy the trip. Zac was raised with my friend’s show standard white poodle Winston. They made quite an odd picture running the fields together, Zac looking intense, Winston looking rather silly in his do-dads and bounding along. Zac always liked standard poodles. Winston has been gone for many years but I bet they are together now. Zac was going to be my obedience dog. He hated obedience. He would never sit straight and he never wanted to heel. The collars got harsher and harsher and he got worst and worst (even with food in front of him). One day, the instructor had me take the collar off and he heeled perfectly. After that, he always heeled perfectly without a collar but fought any leash. I was protected by Zac. Once when someone came to the door and tried to get in – I would not have wanted to confront the Zac that appeared then. The second time, at the park, when a crazy bike person ran over another of my chessies and then came screaming at me. Zac stood between us and his response escalated perfectly as the man tried to kick at him and kept yelling. I always called Zac my “40-watt” dog because he always seemed a bit dim. Dim? Last night after he was gone I realized how well he had trained me. I keep listening for the blinds to rattle so I would know he needs to go out; I threw biscuits out for the other dogs as soon as the meal is over because Zac demanded them for dessert. I got up every few hours last night to check on him, even though he was not there. And, I kept hearing him last night. So did my three other chessies who are a bit confused that their leader is gone (even with problems walking, he stayed the leader. Zac was full of life and full of heart. Zac was my chessie. I miss him.

PREPARATION TO ATTEND A WEDDING I have not been to a wedding in a long time. I have reached the point where my friends are either divorced or determined to stay married (usually their second or third) until death parts them. However, I am off to Kansas City in a few weeks for the wedding of my nephew David and his lady Shanna. Please understand that I am very happy for them but I am surprised by all the work involved. First, lets talk about having to take care of my four chesapeake bay retrievers, Zac, Aspen, Ceil and Echo. Zac is old and sick (almost 14) but the universe is not letting me make 'reasonabl' decisions about him. Instead, I am planning on boarding all the dogs at the vet for about $100 per day. I can live with that, then we add the $150 in shots, the $100 in fecal samples and $400 in tires, gas and hotel bills. Hmm, they will be getting a quilt sometime in the future. Actually have all the pieces but can not figure out how to put it together, assuming that they like the fabrics. Really looking forward to seeing family, travelling visiting quilt stores and stopping at the Wichota dog show on the way out. OK, it is worth it - I am a'coming family!!!!

March 11, 2006 This is going to be a great Saturday. Listening to Alex Anderson's new podcasts (www.alexandersonquilts.com/podcast) Yes, I have been a Simply Quilts viewer since I got DISH and could watch HGTV. Been watching about two years and considered them a set of private lessons. Will miss them. This afternoon, I will be volunteering at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. Get to docent in a room full of wonderful quilts, I see it as an opportunity to study them for three hours and to get to talk to interesting people. Plus, my bitch Echo is about out of heat - thank god, no accidents, no encounters with my stud dog, plus a get a sleeping partner back. My triad piece went over well in my color theory class, lots of laughter, a few blushes, those women understood what that piece evolved into. Not sure how it got there but there it is. Before I start thinking about my next project for that class I want to show my analogous project that I called Duck Watching Sue Hunting. I am not a sunbonnet sue fan. Sunbonnet Sue is this cutiest creature with a big hat doing such girly things. Hmm, not my style. I was thinking about a hunting girlfriend and decided to combine my thoughts (assuming I can hang on to my thoughts long enough to act on them). Plus I wanted to show how stupid it was to hunt in a big hat that covers your eyes - she doesn't see anything. So she has a duck behind her plus three 'Birds in the Air' blocks overhead. All she sees is a barren brown field. I have to remember to look around more.

I just kept staring at the triad quilt piece (my last post) trying to figure out why it did not sing to me. Sometimes when I finish a piece, I will look at it on one of my walls and just go "wow", someone did a great job with that, then realize that it is me. Loved the shape but it was just flat. Yesterday I went into the yarn department. This is a first for me since my last knitting was as a child. Found some blue-green and red-violet yarns and just machine couched them in. NOW I like the look. I am still building the background that will let me think through options. My learning curve is very high and between the workshops and classes I take and the quiltart email list I am being exposed to numerous ideas. Right now I am still very hit and miss but I think this was improved and gives me a distorted vision of a woman. I think I will let people decide for themselves in class.

March 1, 2006 Still thrilled about the new blog but finding working a 40 hour a week job is cutting into my quilting and thinking time. Need to find a balance between money and my creativity efforts. I have been using my color theory class to try a lot of new techniques and ideas. Am trying to get at least one or two new things in each piece. This month was triad colors. So we have a yellow-orange background, blue-green and red-violet. Interesting colors. Decided I would work on fusing again, a new circular rotary cutter and an odd shape for the piece. I am not sure I like the result but I am often neutral when I finish a piece. Must admit that it is different for me.

February 26, 2006 Still hanging out with all four dogs. Zac is still with me though skinnier and tired. At the direction of my older sister I have been working on baby quilts new relatives. One family I barely know (darn those old family issues) but Ethan Shane was born on Feb 14th. He will be a Valentine baby forever. I decided to go big, bright and bold but used an existing pattern. The quilt went off a few days ago and was delivered but my sister is not sure it is the right address. It was fun and easy to do and did not require a lot of thinking. Great border fabric from Andover - did all the swirling on its own. One of my passions are my chesapeake bay retrievers. I show them in conformation, and agility and I wanted to learn how to quilt dogs. Got Sharon Malec's book (the dog lady) and learned her free standing applique techniques. Then I started creating originals and have had them in a few shows and sold some. Thought I would show you one that I put on a business card (Quilting the Dog).