NEW YEARS INSPIRATIONS FOR YOUR INNER ARTIST-take it all in and CREATE!

The wonderful dog quilt above was done in a Ruth McDowell class by Mel McFarland-five of us went to Kalispell Montana and took her class-Mel just finished this and I think it is wonderful! Spike is the dog's name.


The quilt above is by Mary Linfesty- she belonged to my swap group on Yahoogroups and we did BEES that time and she took the bees and mixed it up with darling flowers and a beed skep-all done Hoochy Mama method-she is a pro!

The quilt above is my feather tree with many birds and one sneaky cat! I love the cheddar background- it has long been mny favorite for backgrounds because it can be the compliment to many things...wonderful color!

Who doesn't love anything that Maxine says? I think she is so funny!

One year I took a teaching cruise to Mexico and Jamaica and Balize. I did this wool wallhanging of a bird and a pineapple and hung little doodads from Guatamola on it-I love it and don't think the camera caught the great color and effect.


This is a painting photo that someone sent me. Also this guy had this drawing he was doing and I kept it from a letter someone sent. I would love to try this but it might be tiring and what do you do with the drawing once it is done?
I thought it was wonderful but don't know whose it is. It has been in my files for awhile. I am erasing alot of "stuff" and want to share it before it is gone.

My cousin who does beadwork and some scrap booking too sent me the photo above and below. That is about as much as I know but like both of them, don't you?

I think the color and design in the painting here is wonderful....one of the thousands of things in my files....18.000 photos....I am trying to delete some of them so my computer doesn't crash. I can't help it, I love inspiration and design from talented people. Don't you. And how do you like the "UP" house? I have no idea what this is all about but I do know the movie "Up" thanks to my Grandkids and this part is obvious!

As many of you know, my five year old Granddaughter has adored bugs for three years...she just never gets over how much she loves bugs! My friend Laura who is the sister of Chrlotte (amny of you know them from Asilomar and also Florida) thought that it would be a nice gesture to make pillow cases out of this bug fabric. It is the cutest pillowcases I have ever seen and naturally this is what my Granddaughter wants to sleep on every night.....can you blame her?

Creativity Thrown at YOU to Set Up An Imaginative and Artful New Year!

As we come into the New Year, These Things Could Help You Be Happy! At Least I Hope So

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS

I wish you the blessings of the day of Christmas and each day after that.
I appreciate your kind friendship and support of this blog and my other places I share. May you be deeply blessed and be a blessing in return.

Delicious Maja Toffee Recipe from Linda Milligan (of Possibilities) last year-IT is WONDERFUL

Linda Milligan December 20, 2010 at 2:25pm
Maja Toffee
Here it is Mary Lou,
It's called Maja Toffee-I'm not sure why.
2 cubes butter (I Use Land of Lakes slightly salted and then I don't add the pinch of salt)NOTE- a pound of butter comes in FOUR cubes in a package-this is what a cube means
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp Karo syrup
1 tbsp hot water
pinch of salt

Melt and stir (constantly) these ingredients together in a heavy pan. I use a wooden spoon, but I'm not sure if that is necessary or just me and my superstition. You also need to hold your tongue just right. ; )

Keep stirring until the mixture boils and starts to turn the color of brown sugar.(If the phone rings or someone wants you to do something for them do not answer them until you add the Hershey Bars--see below.) Take off heat and add 1 cup of diced almonds and stir quickly to mix. Dump mixture on cookie sheet that has been treated with Pam.

Spread as thin as possible. Lay 5 Hershey Bars on the top and spred as they melt. Sprinkle some more diced almonds on top or pulse some in a food processor to make finer crumbs. Let cool--usually overnight to allow the chocolate to harden correctly. Break into small pieces and enjoy!

Also, just so you know--if you give boxes of this away, you will be expected to every year for the rest of your life. ; )

A Mirror to End ALL Mirrors This Christmas and Next! And surprise that is so fun and creative!

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So I have a friend named Sue Cresse who has a million and one ways to be creative and this is a mirror she made. It is so beautiful in person! Sue can take an idea and always make it tons better.
Do you know someone like her?
She bought a simple mirror at Home Goods and then transformed it into this with the help of a glue gun.
She said it is so heavy, you can hardly lift it to get it on the wall and they had to a real system in place to hold it. So cool!



I got his link from someone and I have spent hours goofing around with it and thinking about quilts made with some of the things I cut out....it is so much fun. It takes a little practice but is well worth it!
http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/

Random Acts of Kindness Often Feels Better for the Giver than the Receiver

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Above are photos I took in Switzerland of candy...lovely chocolate candy.
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So, today my husband stopped at the grocery store for milk on the way home from work.

As he was standing in line, he heard the clerk at another counter trying to tell some man he owed her more money.

My husband got out of line because clearly her noticed the man had some mental issues.

The man had put down a can of spam,something else and some loose tea bags from bulk and he gave her 75 cents.

She was trying to explain that he had to give her more money and he wasn't getting it.

So while everyone else stood there,

Mark took nine dollars out of his pocket and gave it to her.

My husband said it was all the cash he had on him and he thinks that it was still 75 cents short. He said he thinks the cashier gave him the extra 75 cents after she saw the nine dollars there.

The man came over and shook my husband's hand and thanked him and Mark said he obviously had no money, was dressed poorly and had problems.

He came home happy.

My husband said it made HIS day to help someone like that.

It is so cold outdoors and I feel badly for anyone who is walking with no car and maybe no home.
I am counting my blessings today as I cut up some really pretty Timeless Treasures fabric....how about you?

Understanding Art and the Artist and ON Being Kind

You know, I saw this photo and I thought of how some people don't "get" story quilts and whimsy and it made me laugh.

When I was at Market, we were holding up a cow quilt in front of a group of gals and showing a pile of the different ones and everyone was smiling and commenting and a woman walked up and caught my eye and had a huge frown on her face and she looked sternly at the cow quilt and then back at me and she shook her head from side to side.
And then walked away.

Someone there asked me (later) if that hurt my feelings.

I said "first of all she doesn't "get it" and second of all I would not want to go to lunch with her." Here is the thing.

If you see a quilt or a piece of art, would you stand there and there and be rude and try to get that person to look at you so you could be hurtful or mean? If you would, then there is something deeply wrong.


Art is subjective and that is why some people love Rembrant and some people love Andy Wathol and some people love Grandma Moses. There is room for everything and honestly here is the other thing.


Story quilts have a point and you have to be willing to "think" about the piece just like they teach you in art school.

Your painting should have some kind of point (like the beauty) which could be something the person is doing, a person's gaze across the surface and you are carried across to see what THEY are looking at, a theme (did they carry it?), color etc.

I understand that if a person is deep into traditional quilts which I happen to LOVE and always have, then maybe they don't "get" the point of something that has the theme that one tries to carry across but honestly, why give someone a dirty look, shake your head or call me a "Mary Loonie?"

I got alot of mileage off of that even though it was meant to cut like a knife.

Eleanor Peace Bailey recited a poem once in Switzerland when I was there. I thought it would be boring (I am dumb sometimes I know) and it was fabulous.

The idea of the poem is that people judge you because you use bright crazy colors or do something that they deem weird when in effect God loves what you do because you are continuing His creativity.

And to that point

I remember a guy in church that used to beg to do solos and he was a terrible singer.

I commented on it to someone who was far wiser than I and they said "you hear a person who cannot sing but God hears the most beautiful volice ever because Paul sings it to please God and others.

She was right, he was the sweetest man and he was totally sincere.

As long as you are happy with your work and you work hard then it is the least others can do to be polite because maybe they don't know what you know.
Comments??

Funny from Esther-thanks Esther this made me Laugh

A minister was coming to the close of his temperance sermon.
With great emphasis he said, 'If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.'

With even greater emphasis he said, 'And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.'

And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he said, 'And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.'

Sermon complete, he sat down.

The choir director then very nervously announced, while looking sideways at the minister, 'For our closing hymn, let us sing number 365,
'Shall We Gather at the River'

From My Cousin Lance Who Lives in Mozambque-Merry Christmas (I guess)

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The cartoon above is from Kristi my girl cousin and her brother sent the joke below...they are both alot of fun, can't you tell?
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I would like to share with you all an experience that I recently had regarding drinking and driving.
As you would know, most of us have had brushes with the law on our way home before.
Well I for one have done something about it.....the other night I was out for dinner and a few drinks with some friends,
having had a few too many, and knowing full well I was struggling,I did something I've never done before. I took a bus
home. I arrived home safely and without incident, which was a real surprise as I have never driven a bus before.
=

Two Winning and Wonderful Quilts!

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I am really excited to be able to share this photo of the quilt called "Coffee Cake Day." Mary who has become a lovely friend made this quilt about making loads of those beautiful yeast dough stollen style coffee cakes on December 11th for friends and family.

I first met Mary in beautiful West Virginia at the Cedar Lakes story quilt class. If you live anywhere close to West Virginia, please consider coming in April to join us while we make creative and fun memory quilts about our lives.

The State owned park is gorgeous with a super room with alot of light and the rooms are nice to stay in and it is just honestly a little like "heaven" as the song about West Virginia goes.

Then Mary came along to my Madeline Island workshop to continue and begin a new quilt.
Mary's artist comes out and does fabulous things but somehow she forgot she said in between the two classes how to keep her inner artist outside. :0)
Then she really went all out and made loads of wonderful things.

Look at the detail of this quilt and you will see the names of people that help and that they give to and other fun things.
I can't wait to see her next project. Mary is a fun, talented and great person. Hope she shows up again at one of the story quilt workshops along the way.
It is a delight to have fun and nice people take these workshops that tell a story about who you love and what you love.

By the way, Two wacky women are hosting a story quilt class with me next summer AUG. 9th through the 13th at a wonderful hotel with great food and classroom in Palm Desert,California.
We would love to get those numbers up and if you have seen the story quilts of mine at Roxanne's or anywhere you know I am doing all kinds of new things.
Please consider coming and enjoying this wonderful class.
And "yes" it is air conditioned.
I plan to going to Monica's quilt shop which I hear so much about too and hope you will go with me for fun!




This second quilt is quite wonderful to me because first it is by my friend Lynne Pennington from Texas who is so much fun and who I have known a long time from many many workshops and you can see her work in the Out of the Box book. She did her husband on a tractor with a martini and all kinds of things in the yard around him. It is wonderful.

But we got her involved in the cow parade and this was what she came up with which I love because it is the perfect quilt to hang this time of year.
I am not sure of the name but think it might be another Mooey Christmas quilt.

If you want to do your own cow with a cow, veal, dairy, Moo, heifer theme the easy pattern is in the Out of the Box with Easy Blocks book.
It takes less than a day to do the cow and then you get to do all of the fun stuff to go along with your theme.
It is the perfect "bee" challenge for any group!
We will have seven of these quilts at Road to California in January and then more at the Minnesota Quilters show in June.
I know Mary and Lynne would love comments and I am going to surprise some nice girls who comment here and also commented in the past- stay tuned for a nice December give away to a nice group of friends.

Images Make Us Think "Creatively

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Making a COW can be the ultimate creativity lesson for you! ASK the 30 people we know who have made them. The pattern is in the Out of the Box with Easy Blocks book by Mary Lou Weidman and Mel McFarland. Mooey Christmas was one of the themes you might want to try too!



The large variety of my quilts and other people's quilts on the red were designed by Bonnie for a card showing when I was at Roxanne's quilt shop but it is such a delightful group of photos, I will keep showing it here and there...I love the color and the quilt images-so happy