Planning for studio time

I've negotiated with DH to be able to spend all day tomorrow inthe studio. It'll be a wet studio day and I hope to do some silk fusion pieces that I can make into matted pieces. I put together the basic fabric paper for three journal covers yesterday. I will want to add some hand stitching to them and maybe some stamping. I even bought some feathers to meld into the silk fusion. I'll have to check my felt supply to make sure I can finish them. The last two cushions are sewn ready for stuffing, but there is a movie I want to watch tomorrow evening--so the ideal time to stuff cushions. This morning is the AGM of the Crafts Museum, followed by a short, fun workshop, and there is a lecture at MAWA this afternoon. Either before or after the lecture I want to visit a fabric store next to MAWA. I need to find a source for muslin , now that my usual source has changed their supplier.

My introspection has focussed on why I'm so busy. I have to wonder if we do it to ourselves because we have been forced inside by the weather for three months. Now, we just have to break out. So there are lectures and events etc. Or maybe the events have always been there, but now we are so anxious to get out of the house that we look for excuses.

More power cooking!

yesterday it was ribs. But first DH had to shop for a few vegetables we had forgotten Wednesday. The list he had read something like this: celery, onions, carrots, microwave. We had comparison shopped and found a brand name at Superstore, at a good price. Well it turns out they were sold out, so off he went to Walmart. The local store was also sold out, but they had one at a store all the way across town. They were willing to hold it for 20 minutes, so off he went. Now, you must understand that DH doesn't shop. If he goes with me it is with protestations all the way, but he still insists on going, just to make sure that I don't buy anything we don't need. So all of his travels and efforts were accompanied with phone calls home, to let me know what was going on. But a funny thing happened to him. He ran into people he knew. He talked to other men. I know how much he misses the company of other men, now that he spends most of his time at home alone. When he runs into them in stores etc he loves to spend a few minutes chatting. Yesterday he seemed honestly surprized at having enjoyed himself, when he told me about it.

We baby sat the youngest grandchild yesterday afternoon, and then DD and the four year old came to pick her up, but first had to help us eat the ribs. DD told us that they had attended an information session for parents of children starting school next fall. How time flies!! They didn't leave until almost 9:00. By that time I was exhausted, and fell into bed. No sewing yesterday.

Payday!

It's been a lean month, and it was a relief to finally get to the end of it. So yesterday we shopped. We are looking for a new microwave. This has triggered a discussion on whether it's better to buy a top of the line, in hopes that it'll will last awhile, or to buy a cheaper model and expect to replace it more often. They can't be repaired, nor are they easy to get rid of when they stop working. My experience is with irons. It doesn't seem to matter how much I pay for them, they only last about 18months. Irons made for household use just won't standup to 5-6 hours a day of being used. I'm not alone in this experience, as it has been discussed at some length on the quilters internet group I belong to. Anyway, the discussion came down to what features we want/need in a microwave. We really only want some fairly basic features--which sends us to the cheaper machine.

Shopping means power cooking and filling the freezer. My doctor has firmly told me to get the beef out of my diet and eat mainly fish, with some chicken, or pork tenderloin. Have any of you priced chicken lately??!! Or turkey!! $4.00 a pound for turkey!! I can't even substitute eggs, nor am I allowed to use cheese. So, for the next while I'm going to be searching for recipes that can be used to turn a single chicken breast into 2-4 servings.

In the studio, I've discovered a small area on the back of Chaos Theory where the water I used in blocking it, caused the hand dyed fabric to run. It's very small, and only on the back. I'm going to try discharging just that small area, as the backing is white. This is the first time I've left my machine quilting out in the open for the world to see on the back of the piece. Usually I put on a false back to cover my sins. I already have the binding sewn on, so adding a false back would be difficult, but if the disharging doesn't work, that's what I'll have to do. I finished the machine work on the second cushion, and now have to stuff it. Then on to the third cushion, after which I plan to reward myself with a wet studio day.

Last evening I attended a session on studio visits and artists' talks. This was part of what they are calling "Boot Camp"-- a series of presentations that have been offered through Mentoring Artists For Womens' Art (MAWA). These sessions have been great! They are designed to help women artists feel more comfortable in the world of art as a business. I think I've learned a lot from them, but I'm sorry that I missed the first one. They may be repeated next fall, so I need to keep my membership, just in case.

Hubby seems better

He actually woke up before I did this morning. I can't remember the last time that happened. so I have to believe that he's starting to feel better.

Spent most of yesterday working on cushions, and managed to finish one. The fabric she brought was horrible! It was an artifical satin that couldn't be pinned without leaving holes--almost like a plastic. It wouldn't iron, and any water spot left a permanent stain. I tried using silk pins in the seam allowance, but it was so tough that they wouldn't go through. I got the cushion made and stuffed and then had to try to hand stitch the opening. When I tried to hold it on my lap to sew, it kept slipping off, so I had to use one hand to hold it and the other to sew. And I couldn't use pins to hold the opening closed. What a pain in the a--! Hand sewing 8 inches closed took almost an hour!

Two more to make in the next few days, but they should be much easier, as they are on linen twill--a good sturdy fabric that takes pins, can be ironed and won't slip. Mind you the backing is velvet, so who knows.

Tonight we have to work a charity bingo at a local casino--from 9:00 to 11:45, so we both need to nap this afternoon.

DH remained quite miserable all day yesterday. He slept until 11:00, and then had a nap in the afternoon--unheard of! We were both in bed by about 10:00. He says he is a little better this morning, but I still think a quiet day is in order. We called DD and excused ourselves from dinner tonight. I sure don't want to be taking whatever this is into those little girls! I have the sore throat and cough, but that's all. I've been taking echinacea tea daily, in an effort to stave off the worst of it, but I know you can only do that for a little while. I still have a fairly important meeting this afternoon, but it looks like I'm going alone.

I finished quilting Chaos Theory yesterday, and then blocked it. It was looking good last night, but still a little damp, so I left it on the blocking board. Now that I've removed the blue guide lines, the actual quilting is less obvious. I had worried that it was so strong that it overpowered the delicate circles. I'll try to get it bound in the next day or so, so that I can post the picture of the finished quilt on the appropriate site, and then forget about it. The deadline is March 31st, but I have other deadlines that are more urgent--three cushions to finish by the 12th.

Didn't make it

to the show opening last night. I still hope to get there sometime. We did make it shopping for display grids for the Museum yesterday morning, out to Ft. Whyte nature preserve, in the afternoon, scouting the place for a future craft show and sale. We had to decide how many tables we could actually get in, as we ended up with a waiting list of 7 from our jury process Thursday morning. Then we were out to our DD's town for a nursery school fund raiser supper. Well, by the time they had made all of the draws in the silent auction, it was 9:00. DH was great through all of this, as he really hasn't been well--a terrible cold that I'm worried about turning into something worse. He never takes any medication--prescribed or OTC--but the last two nights has let me give him something to help him sleep. A sure sign that he's feeling rough. We have another rough day planned for tomorrow, so today we'll probably--hopefully--spend quietly at home.

What I learned

I learned a lot about hanging a show at this particular gallery. It can all be summed up in one sentence. The employee of the gallery is a control freak, and the only way to get anything done is to back off and leave it all to her. Lesson learned. There is actually a fellow in charge of the show in June, and I'm supposed to be helping him. He is not a "mover and shaker", and when he proposed setting up this show, the organization felt, quite strongly, that he needed someone so assist. Up to now there has been no problem, as I've been making the necessary arrangements, and he has been somewhere in LaLa Land. Well, today I got an e-mail about him wanting to hire live music for the opening reception. I would think that unless we get develop some system for people to enter the show, and some means of publicizing the show, we may not have an opening reception, but the other guy is in charge. This is really a minor thing, but I know this will be an expensive show to run, and I had hoped to minimize incidental costs.

Anyway, tonight is the Opening Reception for the show we hung yeterday. My stuff doesn't look all that bad, and there are certainly worse examples of fibre art there. Wouldn't it be nice if somthing actually sold?

Very busy yesterday. First a meeting to select participants in a craft show scheduled for April. It was a great experience, as there were some really wonderful applicants. Somethings that I had never seen before, but also some "same old, same old" assembled jewelry. It was great to have more applicants than there was room for, but, at the same time, sad to have to turn some applicants down.

Then my stitchery group met here in the afternoon. We haven't met for awhile and it was nice to see the ladies again. One of our members has been quite ill over the past three months. Finally she appears to be bouncing back. I've been concerned about her, but I have to remember that it takes longer and longer to recover as we get older and older.

Then I had to take my three pieces in for Manitoba Crafts Council show at a local gallery. This is going to be a new experience for me. I saw some of the other stuff that came in, and I worry that my stuff will suffer in comparison. This will be the first time that this group has seen any of my work, and I would have preferred to have "knocked their socks off", but I saw some glass mosaic/raku collage work that had a real "WOW" factor. There was also some small hand-built (?) sculptures that were very appealing. Anyway, I get to go back this afternoon to help hang the show. This is an experience that will be invaluable when the EMAC show comes up in June. It's at the same gallery, and I'll be in charge of hanging it.

Finally, last evening I went to a presentation at MAWA on writing artist's grant applications. this was somewhat informal, but very interesting. I'm not sure I'll ever actually do anything like this, but it's part of an artist's life.

So, over the past year my goals/objectives have been to transition from crafter to artist. I had wanted to exhibit locally, while continuing to exhibit internationally, and I had wanted to explore the art scene in Winnipeg, so as to gain some understanding of what's involved. I had wanted to be around, and better understand other artists. Now all these things are starting to come together, and I feel like I've just reached the highest peak on the roller coaster ride. Now the adrenaline kicks in and it's "hold onto your hat"

Escape for a few minutes

I actually got out of the house for a few minutes yesterday. Got my fibre fill (Boy! Has that ever gone up in price!), and then spent awhile wandering through WalMart, and checked my lottery tickets at Superstore. It was just good to get out and breath fresh air. I even reviewed and raised most of my prices for my finishing work. I hadn't raised prices since 2001, so it was time. DH still thinks they should be higher, but I've more or less retired, and don't anticipate a lot of business. And what business I get will come to me, rather than me having to drive half way across the city for pick up and delivery. The price is just for my labour, with supplies being extra, so I won't be losing any money there.

So now to breakfast and then out to meetings. A busy day all round.

Learning curve

This quilting has been quite a journey. I have learned quite a bit,and am finding it a challenge. It took a bit of practise to finally find a swirl-y layout, and by that time I had done several with straighter lines. So I mixed up the swirl-y bits with straight bits. The quilt would look much better with all swirl-y or all straight, but there is no way I could take any of the quilting out ot make it better in terms of design. I am very pleased with what I've learned, and I can sure see it being used again. Next I want to practise until I can really do it free motion without drawing a lot of lines first.

I had a call yesterday about finishing a cushion. I have two others in the studio waiting for finishing, so I guess that's what I'm doing over the next few days. This means heading out to buy some fibre fill. I don't expect to be doing much of this in the future, so I'm reluctant to buy a big bag, but the big bag is still cheaper than buying little ones just for the three cushions. Storing it will become the problem.

But my Tuesday Night Stitchers that Meet on Wednesdays are coming over tomorrow, so today I clean house. Thank Goodness I made all those banana loaves a couple of weeks back, as I'm out to meetings tomorrow morning and won't have time to do anything else.

Hm-m-m?

Started quilting Chaos Theory. I had talked about trying to mimic the shapes out of the graffitti, but they really weren't very inspiring. Some of the areas were puffy--and not in a good way--so I knew I had to do some fairly heavy quilting. I decided to try some close together parallel lines. I've seen a lot of this type of quilting lately, and even tried it in a couple of pieces, but this time I wanted to try it in shapes other than squares. Well, I've started it, but I'm not sure how it's going to look--and I can't take it out. I had thought that the straight lines would be a good contrast to the circular shapes, but the lines may, in fact, overwhelm the circles, even though the quilting is white on white. I've also found that I can't do this free hand and have to actually draw the lines out before sewing free motion, so I spent most of last evening doing just that. Now I'm anxious to get it finished. Deadlines loom.

The two youngest grand babies came for supper last night, while their parents had a quiet Valentine's Day supper somewhere else. The children are always pleasant here, but the look on their faces when they see their Mom come to get them is a joy to see. The littlest one is having problems with eczema on her face, which worries me, but the doctor is treating it, so we just hope for the best. They'll be back tonight.

On my internet groups there are a lot of people happy because they've got word that they've been accepted into the various shows associated with the International Quilt Festival (IQF)in Chicago in April, but I've heard nothing! I entered two pieces, Mother Earth-In the Beginning, and Broken Rules. A friend, who also entered, is sad after receiving an e-mail telling her that her piece wasn't accepted, so I know that they are informing unsuccessful entries as well as the successful ones. Now I'm worried that my entries--done by e-mail--never got there. I have another show for Mother Earth, and have to get that entry in asap. I have three entries going to the Manitoba Craft Council Members' Show this week--hooray!

But all of this makes me want to make another list. I've just about finished the last one for pending show entries. I have a small commission to finish by mid-March as well. I think I want to try some work incorporating silk paper, but I'll have to make the silk paper first!

Bike Dump again

Here is a preliminary view of Bike Dump. Everything is fused and I've started to sew the circles down. I think the title has to change and I'm considering "Chaos Theory" , just becasue I like the sound of the words. I "googled" Chaos Theory, and it sort of means that two systems, or activities, that start out with the same variables, will not necessarily end up the same. So while I started out with very firm ideas of where this piece was going, the end result was totally unexpected. The piece itself dictated what I ended up doing with it My concern is that it is starting to look familar. I'm wondering if someone else didn't do a similar piece a few years back. If so, there is no way I could ever exhibit it.

Sewing in a circle

Starting sewing downthe circles yesterday, and plan to keep going today. My hands were very sore during the night, so I'm not sure how much hand sewing I'll be able to do. DH plans to bake bread today-- sour dough--so I'll end up spending most of the day staying out of the way downstairs anyway.

Both the Dragon quilt and the "bike dump" qult are very different from what I've been doing lately. Both of these are in response to a challenge and critique offered through the internet group. I've been responsive to the suggestions etc, because I want to exhibit the quilts. But this all gives me cause to wonder if this is truly what my heart is wanting to create, or if I'm just happy creating something/anything. The original ideas are hard work--it's so much easier to let myself be guided by the thoughts of others. Or is the easiest road just to keep sticking artificial flowers on collages?

I've signed up for the workshop being offered by the local guild. This is a very small quilted collage, based on a photo of my choosing. I've chosen a picture of a pond with water lilies taken at Buchart Gardens. I'm not sure how I'm going to develop it, but then that's what the class is all about. While going through my photos, I also found a couple of tree bark. Now I want to see how I can do this with the low water immersion dyeing. (Ordered my dyes from Toronto, and my friend will bring them back with her.) Going through photos also brought back some of the techniques and ideas I learned in the class with Margaret Ven Erve, in 2004. Looking back I realized how often I've referred back to that class, and how I've followed through on some of the ideas that came out of that class--although not exactly in the way they were originally envisioned.

Bike Dump

Well, I had a geat idea for this quilt when I started. One day of work and the whole thing has changed--for the better I hope. I have cut out various sized circles/rings from, mainly, hand dyed fabric. I have one commercial batik in there, at this point. Then I fused all of the rings to black, and cut them out again with a thin black ring all around the inside and outside edge of the coloured fabric. (When I looked at my picture, all of the graffitti was outlined in black.) All of this cutting ( there are at least twenty rings and circles)left my hands very sore, so I spent the evening doing mending rather than the quilt. My intent was to organize the rings very carefully, with a meduim and small ring inside each large one, not aranged concentrically but rather having the outsides touch at one spot. Boring! So now I have cut out four different sizes of rings as well as retaining the circles that were left from the centers of the rings. I plan to just lay these out in a heap, a much closer representation of the picture I'm working from. the background will be white to represent the snow that surrounds the bicycle wheels in the picture. I'm toying with the idea of doing some subtle quilting that will use motifs from the graffitti in the picture.

In the meantime, I have an opportunity to get some dyes from Toronto without having to pay shipping, but I may also have to go out today, so have to get a list of code numbers ready for my husband, just in case the call comes when I'm not home.

Guild meeting

Last night. This was the "big" presentation on art quilts, and the three ladies who presented did me proud. They were really great, and the feedback was excellent. The weather made it "iffy" for awhile. One lady was from Steinbach and the other from Beausejour. They both made it in, but I expect that going home might have been more of a problem, as we had sleety snow, starting about 5:00. I plan to write little thank you notes to each of them.

One thing that came out of this was a potential new member of our little group. While signing up people for an upcoming workshop, I got a call from a lady who used to be a member of the Guild many years ago. She said that she had attended seveal meetings, but never connected with anyone, and found the group very cold. ( I know this is true. I've heard it before) She talked about her interest in the more arty things and especialy abstract quilts. So I alerted my friends, and when the new lady came we made sure that she had a seat at our table. I was busy most of the evening, but my friends took good care of her, and she later told me that she had a wonderful time. While she is out of town until mid-March, she plans to come again, join, and probably sit with us again.

Stuck at home

because of the rain. Rain in winter, in Winnipeg, is not pretty. We have to go out this afternoon, and Dh has just told me that he saw the sand truck out on the main street two doors away, so we might be able to get down town later in the day. Traffic is s-l-o-o-w. Yesterday DH almost fell outside just walking from the back door to the front, to put down some grit so that the mailman could get in the yard. Mailman got here but no garbage pick up.

So part of the day was spent dyeing fabric. Most of it was low water immersion dyeing, but DH brought in one of my 5 gallon pails so I was able to do one piece with a larger dye bath. Each dye bath done that way takes a minimum of 2 1/2 hours of constant attention, so it's not my favourite way of doing things.

Did some pattern drafting for Bike Dump. Sometimes it pays to be old and have experience doing things the old fashioned way. I had to draw some big circles, and my little compass just wasn't big enough. ( I have an extension for it, but darned if I know how to use it) Then I remembered that before there were Omnigrids, we had little plastic rullers with holes in them. I found one and with a stilletto in one hole and a sharp pencil in another, I had a 18 inch compass. So the big circles for Bike Dump are done and then put into strudy paper patterns.

The rest of my time was spent reading library books. I've gone through two by Robert B. Parker and am half way through one by Deborah Cromby--in just two days. So maybe another visit to the library is in my future.

Nope, didn't get it done

And what more can I say. Baby Hoard Dragon is finished in terms of completing the front of the quilt. I glued on the "jewels, but sewed everything else. Now I have to back it and bind it,but I found that I didn't have enough fabric from amongst the ones I dyed. So yesterday I put on several pieces of fabric to dye. Again, I'm stunned at what beautiful greens and teal blues I get when I use black dye (lol) I'm hoping to be able to match the colour I used for the background. Since I used a different method to dye that fabric, this is really going to be a challenge. (The gradation dyeing I used for the first batch isn't possible during the winter, as I have to work outside. The deadline for this quilt is Mach 31) And I want to have several pieces dyed before I wash them, -- the special soap I need to use is expensive, as is the water for a washer load. So today I plan to dye. Baby Hoard Dragon will have to wait a couple of more days for her backing.

One good thing is that I will have lots of time to work today. The forecast is for rain--in Winnipeg--in February. Evidently this happens about once every 20 years. So the best response is to stay home. Only a fool would be out driving once the temperature drops below freezing again--and it will later in the day.

On track and truckin'

Baby Hoard Dragon is looking good. I'm now on to the beading of her hoard. I'm finding that the quilted background just isn't firm enough to support the beading and I added a strip of interfacing across the hoard area, but now I see that I'm going to have to interface the whole thing. I hope to finish her today. And then it's on to the Bike Dump. I can't remember if I spoke about the Bike Dump. This is for the Urban Decay challenge. The challenge is to take a picture of an example of urban decay, and then take a part, or fragment of the picture and develop it into a quilt. I found a gorgeous site behind the old Occidental Hotel. It is a fenced off area with oodles and oodles of graffitti, but it's been used as a dump for old bicycles. There are all these wheels sticking up out of the snow. I plan to create some sort of abstract image using circles based on the wheels, and then incorporate the colours of the graffittti. There is actually a sign on the fence that says "Bike Dump". And don't think that it wasn't scary taking those pictures in a lane behind the hotel!

DD has to go out this afternoon, and was worried about getting over for supper, so we are going there--again--and taking food. Just as well as the tv this morning said that we're under a winter storm watch. So again I can procrastinate over the housework

Got out of the house!

We actually went to McNally Robinson Book Sellers at Polo Park. I found a copy of Quilters' Home there--the last one. I guess people on the internet were right when they said that this issue will sell out quickly. I read the article on Shocking uilts. Very interesting. And the pctures were not offensive -IMHO. I was also looking for some of the magazines coming out of Summerset Studios, but could only find two, and they were specialty magazines that didn't really interest me. I did get Belle Armoire though, but haven't had a chance to read it yet. It's a hard one to find. Then I got a chance to work on the little dragon. She has now been fused to the background, ready for stitching down. I need to do a little more work on her face before I actually start the sewing. DH keeps saying that it is more of a snake's head than a dragon, but I really want to keep the image of a baby dragon. I could add horns and fire etc, but that would make her older than I want. I think I may have to make her eyes round with wonder, rather than the slanted slits of a mature dragon. She will be looking at her hoard and especially a gold chain that plan to have her holding in her hands.

I had hoped to have her sewn by noon today so that I could do the beading at the Stitch'n'Bitch session at MAWA, this afternoon. I have nothing else I could take to work on there. More likely I'll spend the day working on Baby Dragon. Once she is done I need to start work on the next project-Bike Dump. It, too, has a March 31 deadline. I should hear next week about the two I entered into the IQF in chicago. If they don't go, I will have an entry for the Elements show in Pender Harbour, but if they do, I'll have to very quickly come up with something for that show. I'm procrastinating because I really don't expect them to be accepted for Chicago.

Trouble sleeping

It seems that I've got myself in a circular rut. I'm having trouble sleping, so end up doing this sort of thing in the very early morning. By early afternoon, I'm exhausted and need a nap, then have trouble sleeping again at night. I have no meeting tonight, so really hope I can can tough it out until a "normal" bedtime. Worked on the background for Baby Hoard Dragon yesterday. I'm able to use some of the fabric I dyed for the Black and White challenge. This group were to have been black, but ended up with an obvious deep teal blue cast. Perfect for backing my yellow and gold dragon. I'm using the mosaic technique I learned at the class last weekend. My next challenge will be getting her arms and legs in the right proportion to her body. The original piece ( since disgarded) had arms and legs that were really too small. I plan to use the same "hoard" that I had selected for the original piece--mainly gold--chains and beads and jewels. The foiling I had done on that piece really didn't work, so I have to figure out something different for around the eyes, and to give the impression of scales ( or not-maybe I don't need that stuff)

Quiet on the home front. We had to get some car maintenance repairs done yesterday, or void our warrantee, so that puts paid to the budget for this month. I'm trying to learn to use my slow cooker, but all the recipes I find call for really esoteric ingredients. My problem is finding a way to make things taste good without using salt, or strong spices. My default is always garlic, so maybe it's a good thing we aren't going out anywhere public.

Wednesday?? You say it's Wednesday??

Where did Monday and Tuesday go? I sure don't know where they went! I have been trying to re-invent Baby Hoard Dragon. Have the paper piecing on her body done, but now have to figure out a background. Out for meetings 5 days out of six this week, and this morning DH has taken the car in for repair ( there goes the budget!) Monday evening was our monthly Ravenesque meeting. Lots of "Show'n'Tell" this time. The group approved of the free motion embroidery I did on my lizard bag. I also showed them the collaged red bags I did and we talked aobut how to price them. I think I may well take them into the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library gift shop. I can get them out again in time for the sale in April.

A week today I'm going to be part of a presentation on art quilts for the local quilters' guild, so have to get down to work over the next few days figuring out what I'm going to say. I get to do the intro and wrap up, but I still want to be able to pass along some of the joy and satisfaction I get out of my work.

So this morning I have the house to myself,and I can do as I want. Better get off the computer.

Bad weather =sad day

The grandbabies aren't coming for supper. We were all ready for them, and then it started to snow and blow. DD tried to come but phoned from just outside her town saying that she couldn't see the road, and that she could barely make 50k/hr. She decided to turn around and go back. DH gets so very much joy out of seeing the children, but he's the first to admit that he would rather have them safe at home than stranded on the side of the road somewhere at -50. The weather has been bizarre this year. We knew tht Sunday dinner might be affected when they moved out to the country but it seems to be happening more often than not.

Busy Saturday

I took a class from Heather Lair, a local quilter who has been quite successful at supporting herself with her quilting. She is very traditionally based in her work, but every thing has a twist. I have known for some time that she has been quite influenced by Klimpt, and it really shows in her work. I finished the top for the project, and now it's ready for quilting. She hand quilts everything, but that's not for me!

She is also a FAN member and we had a chance to chat during the lunch break. She is interested in helping out with the planning for a FAN retreat for the fall of 2010, so I guess we can start the ball rolling with that.

A couple of people offered critiques of Baby Hoard Dragon. Their suggestions were interesting and I tried to improve the background a bit by adding some dry brushed gold paint to emphasize the quilting. Big Mistake!! So this version is now an official disaster, and I'm going to have to start over again. The show entry deadline is March 31st. I have three deadlines on that day, and I'm not sure what will be going where, or even if I'll be able to meet all three, in any case.