According to my calendar, today is my 11th Blogoversary.  Yes, I have more or, most recently, less been blogging for eleven years!   To mark the occasion, I’m sharing a photo from this week’s Photo Challenge (a follow on to the class I did with Ricky Tims last year).  Instead of doing my initials, I chose to do Eli’s since he will be leaving for college (SOB) shortly.  I’ll thrill you all I’m sure with dorm move-in pics, and will do my darnedest not to start crying until after we leave campus.  The photo challenge theme for this week is Found Alphabet.  I actually teach a Quilting Design class which uses this “learning to see” exercise (Info is here, scroll down to Quilting Design).

Since  our son leaves for college soon and I’m busy, I almost skipped this week; . But I decided to give it a quick go using only the grout lines from our stone fireplace; I also opted to do Eli’s initials: WEKS.  The W is a mirror image of the center stone (I’ll post the full fireplace in my Flickr album), cropped, and squeezed in from the sides. The E is flipped horizontally, the S flipped vertically, and the K is a shot taken on the diagonal.

Here is a photo of the fireplace, source of the letters.

All the letters were “found” in our fireplace. 

It’s gonna be hard being an empty nester. Our lives have revolved around Eli’s sports for so long, every week a meet. This year, none. I know I will have more than enough to fill the hole, but still. Spent the morning copying his iPod playlists so I can play them when I am feeling homesick for him.  Maybe I’ll even spend some of that time blogging…what a concept!

No, I have not dropped off the face of the Earth.  My rather abrupt departure from regular blogging was due to a crashing and dying laptop.  I am happy to say that Apple tech support went so far above and beyond the call of duty it is amazing!  I did have to buy a new (kaCHING) laptop, but it is up and running.  So as soon as I get caught up on everything, I’ll make up with a multi-week Foto Friday and some other regular blogging, too!

And just because blogposts need pictures,

Here’s a fun photo I took this past week that I didn’t submit as my class photo, but I liked anyway.  Thanks to the DH (Hubby) for driving me around for half an hour so I could take “drive panning shots.”  Minor adjustments in LR. Cropped in PS, contrast increased, then a major tweak (100 percent) to highlights. Love the surreal effect.

Hi everyone!  Happy Friday!  It is, according to my calendar, my TENTH anniversary of blogging?  How the heck did that happen, ten YEARS?   So I’m celebrating with TWO posts today.  The first is my Foto Friday from my 52-Week Photography Challenge class with Ricky Tims, and later today I’ll post about my Dinner@8 interview.

So this week’s challenge was Old Paint.  Here are my top three choices:

This is the photo I submitted as my class assignment. A picturesque (means falling apart) buidling on our property. LOVED this shot but it needed some work. Deepend the leaf shadows, then dodged the shadows on the left part of the hinge so it was more visible. Reduced highlights a tiny bit. Selected the cracked windowpane and lightened as it was too dark—overpowered the rest of the door. Summer in Maine!

Here are a couple more:

This might have been my choice but once I was home (and didn’t want to drive 22 miles back into town round trip) I saw on my laptop that it wasn’t crisp. Had high hopes for this one, but disappointed in the depth of field…f/13 not enough. Would have been better with flowers and siding crisp. May try again the next time I’m in town with my camera.

Another shot of the picturesque (aka decrepit) building on our property. Why no door on the right? Because it LITERALLY came apart into a crumpled heap. And the plywood that has covered up the opening blew down late last winter. Need to fix. Soon. Autumn is trying really hard to begin!
Decreased shadows a tiny bit, knocked back highlights a bit more. Punched up contrast.

Other photos from this week are on my Flickr site, here. Happy Blogoversary everyone!

What a year it has been and what an end of a year–have come down with a sinus infection after Christmas.   But while I was putting things together for the family Christmas newsletter, I decided to browse my blog to remember what had happened.  Of course I remembered Eli going to wrestling camp and our big trip to England, but it felt like I really hadn’t accomplished much art-quilt-wise.  It appears my memory was faulty–what a year!

Insalata, (c) Sarah Ann Smith 2014.  In the Studio Art Quilt Associates exhibit Food for Thought.

1. My line of Thermofax screens came out with Fiber on a Whim!  Blogged about them here and here, and you can buy them here.
   

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2. Two of Us–I was in the Beatles exhibit quilt and in the book! Blogged here, find the book here.
   

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3. Amaryllis quilt made and touring Australia and New Zealand in the Living Colour Textiles exhibit.  Blogged here; website for the exhibit here.
   

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4. Eli, Cross-Country 2013 quilt made for the Dinner@8 Reflections exhibit with the IQA shows.  Blogpost here; website for the exhibit here.
   

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5. Mr. Wiggles does the Circle Dance made and included in the traveling portion of Dare to Dance exhibit and book.  Blogpost here and here, and book here.
   

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6. Many articles for MQU / Machine Quilting Unlimited on various aspects of machine quilting.  I have to say I subscribe to this magazine and it is one that I read cover to cover each and every issue! There were lots of posts over the past two years, so I won’t put them all here, but here’s one about maintaining your machine.  Here’s the MQUmag.com website.  If I had to cut my magazine subscriptions down to 3, this would be one that I’d keep.
   

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7. QA TV–on PBS in three segments of Quilting Arts TV talking about needle and thread, quilting, and my easy-peasy inside-out bag!  Me?  On TV?   Here are a few blogposts here and here and here and a link to Series 1400 at the Interweave Store. If you want to shop at Interweave, use the link at the left of my blog for a discount on some items.  Thanks so much to my friend Susan Brubaker Knapp who was tapped to be the new host (and wonderful she is!) and Vivika Hansen DeNegre, editor of Quilting Arts magazine.
   

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8. Three works in the  Quilt Essentials book, a new book that covers the full range of quilting, geared at newcomers to the art and craft of quilting, published out of England.  Blogpost here and for sale here.
   

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9. Insalata, my latest piece, has been juried into on of SAQA – Studio Art Quilt Associates — exhibits, Food for Thought.  Apparently, I’ve been SO busy I forgot to blog about finishing the quilt and getting it submitted!   I’ve tried many times, but this is the first time I’ve made it into a SAQA exhibit. My blogpost about the quilt in progress here.   The quilt is at the top of this post! I’ll add Insalata to my list of “Things I need to blog about!”
   

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10. I was lucky to attend, teach and lecture at International Quilt Festival, Houston, again this year.  For me, this show is the biggest and best show in the US, and I am  privileged to be able to teach there.  It is so much fun to have returning students in my classes!
    

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11. Our oldest son graduated and I actually made and gave him his graduation quilt within a few months of the event!   He and his girlfriend looked SO CUTE when they wrapped up in it in our living room.  Blogpost here.  It’s a whopper:  87 x 97 inches of riotous color!
    

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12. New workshops in development–I’ve got two new workshops/classes well under way.  The first is an a la carte series of classes called Quilting the Good Life, where guilds can pick from one to five days of classes that begin with a fused, collaged flower (Quilting the Garden), a second day to develop one’s own photo into an art quilt, a one or two-day quilting class for thread-coloring / quilting the piece, or turn it into a five day workshop including all of the above with extra time to work on the piece with my help.  The second workshop is using thermofax screens and other surface design techniques inspired by the mini-workshop I did in the Fiber on a Whim booth in Houston this fall, blogpost here.  I’ll blog more about these when they debut. 
    

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13. QA Holidays issue:  the easy peasy inside out bag and card holders I demonstrated on Quilting Arts TV were included as patterns in the annual Holiday issue!
    

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14. England trip–there are many blogposts and more still to come for this once in a lifetime trip.  How wondrous is it that a 16 year old teenager wanted to go with his Mom to England? 
    

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15. 500 traditional quilts book—I’m known as an art quilter, but I love traditional quilts.  I was thrilled to have 3 quilts included in this book juried by Karey Patterson Bresenhan and have 2 on display at the 2014 International Quilt festival in Houston in the exhibit of selected quilts from the book.   Blogpost here.
    

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16. Planting 300+ daffodil and tulip bulbs with my family!  Nearly 30 years ago we lived in DC on Capitol Hill.  One row house had a small front garden that was wall-to-wall tulips in spring.  I’ve always wanted to do something similar with daffodils….. have those joyous blooms spilling down a hillside.  Well, we have the hill, and in spring we should have the flowers.  I ordered about 100 tulips and 250 daffodils.   I have a feeling I will want to add a hundred more bulbs every autumn until I have my cascade of daffodils!  Blogpost here.
    

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17. Dog walkies—inspired by Susan Brubaker Knapp’s daily beauty photos, I have been documenting my little world on dog walkies with our beloved pug.  I post the pictures on Facebook, though get them shared here sometimes, too.   If you aren’t already a friend on FB, please do visit me here and send a request!
    

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18. Not enough exercise–well, something had to go, and clearly I should re-prioritize and get myself back in some sort of shape.  Hope springs eternal?
    

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19. Janome 15000, in Janome ads w/banner:  to my utter astonishment and delight, Janome America has sponsored me with a machine for nearly a decade now.   In exchange, I do projects for them and try to repay their kindness and generosity by talking about the features of the machine (which are fabulous and I would say that even if I DIDN’T get to use one for free).  This year they –GASP, and yes I seriously upgraded my business insurance to cover the cost of this machine– lent me a top of the line Janome 15000.  And they used a banner I made for them in their national ads, blogpost here.  Thank you Janome America!
    

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20. And last but not least by any  means, I am now published with a NON textile artwork in Lesley Riley’s Inspirational Quotes Illustrated.    And in another how-did-I-not-Blog-about-that-yet moment, I will prepare a blogpost to publish tomorrow with pictures of the book and my piece in it!  You can buy the book here.  And I will say, I almost never have TWO of a book, but this one is so cool because you can remove pages to go on the wall, so I am keeping my autographed-by-Lesley copy intact and bought another to take out pages for posting on my design wall as inspiration.
    

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So that was one heck of year–and here I thought I hadn’t done much.  What a wonder!

These are some of the bags you’ll see on my Inside-Out bag segment.  The orange bags are one of my two projects in Quilting Arts Gifts 2014 along with a companion card holder.  The one on the right (the lotus fabric) is made from plasticized cloth, so great for make-up or messy stuff.

What fun I had on the set of Quilting Arts TV filming my episodes, and what MORE fun to have two projects included in this year’s Gifts 2014 magazine as well as two holiday recipes–one for a sweet treat the other is satsuma-currant scones (satsumas are similar to clementines or mandarins, use whatever citrus you have!).  Makes me hungry just thinking about them!

This year’s issue of Quilting Arts Gifts. I’m thrilled to have two projects and two recipes included!

(Note:  to order, click here or use the Affiliate link in the sidebar on the left; the Affiliate link will get you a discount on some items!)

I thought I’d share some variations on the theme to give you ideas of how you can make your own bags–they are SO fast and easy and fun!  Use the article in Quilting Arts Holiday or the instructions in episode 1402  of Quilting Arts TV to make the bag with these variations.  Learn more about all of series 1400 here  including information about Episode 1402 which includes the bag project.

Here are two of my cardholders. These are so fast–they would make a great gift-card “wrapping” for Christmas, then the recipient can continue to use the holder. They are sized to fit business cards, but I use the green one for all those extra (annoying!) store cards for the grocery, discount stores, pharmacy, and so on. The green was the original; despite being beaded on the flap and used heavily for three years, it is still in great condition. The warm-tones bag is new. The project in the magazine uses a snap closure, but I really like this one which uses a heavy duty hair elastic and button.

The blue-green card holder has velcro closing. I painted white velcro with acrylic ink to match. The warm-tones uses that thick hair elastic. I like the way I used perle cotton to quilt the bag and stitch down the back end of the hair elastic.

I’ve also made variations on the basic flat-bottomed bag for my iPad and notebooks.

The iPad case is simply a larger version of the card holder. The trim comes from Renaissance Ribbons.

And the inside:

And the inside. Again, I used acrylic inks to color the white velcro to match.  I’m not sure that the ink is washfast, but so far I haven’t had to find out the hard way!  This bag has an outside pocket (with zipper) on the back to hold the charging stuff and stylus.

I made this bag to fit my new, slightly longer, portable watercolor palette and painting supplies.

Inside of my Painting stuff bag. It has pockets sized to fit a tube of gouache, a glue stick, eraser, and so on.

I’ve also made several notebook or sketchbook covers using this easy technique.

My notebook, zipped closed. Can you tell I really love that ribbon from Renaissance Ribbons?  I also couched some heavy perle cotton on the edge and used it as a zipper pull.

The notebook cover opened up. I make pencil pockets on the left and used a 22-24 inch zipper all the way around. When gauging the size for your cover, think about the thickness of the zipper tape. If your notebook is really thick, you may want to add some fabric extensions to the sides so it will close nicely OR just make the cover a bit larger than you think you’ll need so it will wrap and zip shut nicely.  And you can see in the center how I had fun quilting AND used a small bit of ribbon at the top ends of the zipper and at the bottom to make a nice, clean finish.

My notebook cover, opened up, shows the ribbon extends across the back, too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these additional options for the patterns I shared in my Quilting Arts TV segment and in QA Holidays 2014!  Remember to use the link on the left if you decide to go shopping at the online Interweave Store–it may get you some discounts!  Or click on this one right here to go directly to the Holiday issue!

Here’s the list of the bloghoppers with links.   If you haven’t had a chance to visit already, please do.  Some of these folks I know, but others are new to me so I’m really looking forward to seeing  (or have really enjoyed seeing)g their blogposts and blogs!

• Friday, September 12, Vivika Hansen DeNegre, http://quiltingdaily.com/
  Saturday, September 13, Lyric Kinard, http://lyrickinard.com/blog/
  Sunday, September 14, Claude Larson, http://randomactsofpiece.blogspot.com/
  Monday, September 15, Linda McLaughlin, http://notesfromstudiob.blogspot.com/ and Kathy Kerstetter, http://artndl.blogspot.com
  Tuesday, September 16, Lori Miller, http://lorimillerdesigns.wordpress.com/
  Wednesday, September 17, Melanie Testa, http://melanietesta.com/blog/, and Liz Kettle, http://www.textileevolution.com/index.php/our-journey
  Thursday, September 18, Susan Brubaker Knapp, http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
  Friday, September 19, Lisa Chin, http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com/
  Saturday, September 20, Sarah Ann Smith, https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog
  Sunday, September 21, Catherine Redford, http://catherineredford.com/

Enjoy!