By Beth Studio

Look Hoo-Hoo's 10!

2011-09-06T13:02:00.013-05:00

This is the fiber art quilted postcard titled "Look Hoo-Hoo's Ten!" that I created for Quilting Arts Magazine's 10th anniversary celebration. I am so honored and excited that it was chosen to be published with the first grouping of postcards in their 10th anniversary issue! (Dec 2010/Jan 2011, pg. 7)

Three of the fabrics, the green for the owl face, the red background and the numeral ten, were ones that I won from a fabric scrap give away on Pokey Bolton's blog. Pokey is the editor and founder of the magazine so I thought it was fitting to use some of her very own fabric scraps for the anniversary postcard. I free motion machine stitched the designs and used layers of decorated netting and velvet to add texture. For the eyes I used parts of a snap and glass beads. I just love the way he turned out!

I have several larger sized owl pieces in my etsy shop www.bybethstudio.etsy.com and I'm always creating more.
Happy Birthday Quilting Arts Magazine!

Clifford Costume-Book Character Day

2010-05-10T09:21:00.025-05:00

As Charlie gets older (9 months now!), I'm able to do a little more creative stuff other than just watching Quilting related TV and reading my stacks of Quilting and Art related magazines and books. My latest creation was Claire's Clifford costume. I plan on using the felt scraps to make something new that is more Art Quilt related;but, for now, Clifford will have to do! (good to sew and Claire even helped!)

Claire's school celebrated book character day and she wanted to be Clifford the Big Red Dog. I made an easy Clifford Costume for Book Character Day.

I just needed...
3 pcs. red craft felt
1 pc black craft felt
snap or other closure
stuffing (I used plasitc shopping bags)
headband
red bottoms (I used shorts and tights)
red top
sewing machine(or you could hot glue)
craft glue
pins
needle and thread

The only things I had to buy were the pieces of craft felt which were about 20 cents each from Wal-Mart. I had the other items already. This could easily be adapted for other dogs or other animals by changing the color and shapes. Two girls in her class were the book character Biscuit by doing a similar thing with yellow felt and brown felt.

Used 3 pieces of craft felt for the ears and tail...

After tracing the shapes w/ a Sharpie, sew along the line then cut out a little bit from the stitching. Clip the curves and turn.

I cut a rectangle piece from the black felt and attached a closure for the collar.

The ears were attached to the headband with craft glue and pins. After the glue dries, I removed the pins. I stuffed the tail a little with plastic shopping bags and stitched it to the waist of the shorts. You could easily pin with safety pins.

For the bottoms I used tights under her shorts. I used adult sized red tights and cut the feet off at the right length for my daughter. I then used the feet on the hands as paws.

She had a lot of fun and the costume was easy and turned out really cute!

Swap Entries

2010-03-27T17:30:00.009-05:00

While I haven't had a lot of creative time lately, I did manage to create two new piece for a recent swaps sponsored by Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine.

One is for their Art Affirmation Postcard Swap....

And another is for their Mixed Media Pendant Swap...

In several weeks, I will get a postcard and a pendant in the mail created by another artist. I'm excited to see what arrives and I'm happy to have accomplished something creative!

Willingness and Warly

2010-03-14T20:57:00.003-05:00

Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 35

The willingness to give up my pride and self-will to a Power greater than myself has proved to be the only ingredient absolutely necessary to solve all of my problems today. Even the smallest amount of willingness, if sincere, is sufficient to allow God to enter and take control over my problem, pain, or obsession. My level of comfort is in direct relation to the degree of willingness I possess at any given moment to give up my self-will, and allow God’s will to be manifested in my life. With the key of willingness, my worries and fears are powerfully transformed into serenity.

This was the topic at a recent meeting. While it was being read, I instantly thought of my son, Charlie "Warly" who is seven months old. Shortly before he came into our lives I told God that I was willing to do whatever He wanted in regards to me having more childern or not. I told Him that I had no idea what His will was for me and I would do whatever it was. If that was to have more children that would be great;but, I was going to need a lot of help from Him and if I was to be the mom of sweet little Claire and she was to be an only child that that was OK too and that I’d still need a lot of help from Him. I really had no idea what I was to do. I’m a planner and I never have been able to plan children. I know God is funny that way!

With my daughter we tried all kinds of things including infertility treatments and adoption applications and had decided that God wanted us to be happy without children and then…SURPRISE! A sweet baby girl!

After her birth, I wasn’t sure if I could have more children and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to or should. Part of me was afraid to get my hopes up again and part of me was afraid of beeing greedy or messing up what I already had. There also was an unexpected brain tumor and surgery thrown in there as well. So after years of thinking and figuring and praying and wondering I got to the point where after a yoga class one day I was lying on my back on the floor feeling the sun on my body looking at the clouds and I just said, “I’m willing! Whatever it is Lord, I’ll do it;but, please help me out as you know more than I that I have no idea what I’m doing and I will need a lot of help!”

A few months and one miscarraige later, I was pregnant again and my baby boy was born in July of this past year. So Charlie is all about willingness to me. My worries and fears were powerfully transformed allowing God’s will to be manifested in my life.

I'm not here for fun

2009-10-10T21:18:00.005-05:00

I found out today that this guy I knew from the program killed himself a few weeks ago. This is very, very sad and reminds me once again of why I go to meetings. I go to meetings because I have a fatal disease which has no cure. That is why I get up on Sunday mornings and go sit in a hospital basement for an hour. It is how I stay alive. Now that I've done it awhile I actually do enjoy the people and the meeting. I look forward to going all week. The people there I consider dear and important in my life. But, really even though it's something I look forward to now; that's not why I'm there.

It reminds me that my disease is patient and cunning and it never goes away. He had recently picked up his 2 year sobriety chip. From what he'd shared, it seemed like things were going well for him in those 2 years. He had gone from being homeless to again having a job in his field, having his family talk to him again, having a sponsor and new friends in the program. He was a wonderful artist and was handsome and witty. I enjoyed watching him get his life back. I liked waving to him as I drove by when he was taking a smoke in front of the place he worked. A couple times when I went in he showed me his portfolio and his work. He was very talented. He always gave hugs and seemed to be getting better. One time in a meeting he told a story about denial and how when he was using and homeless in California he'd convinced himself that he was OK because he had a sleeping bag and didn't have to sleep on cardboard or the ground like the heroin addicts. Something about that story hit home with me.

Many weeks ago I'd heard from my mom that someone I knew from the program had killed themselves. I'd missed meetings due to having Charlie and I wondered who it was but she didn't know. When I went back to my Sunday morning meeting, I would feel relieved when the old faces were still there and would walk through the door. Mike hadn't been there and I'd been afraid to ask. Maybe he went to visit family in California, maybe he's got the flu, maybe he moved. Two weeks ago his brother and friend were there and no one mentioned Mike. I'd kinda figured it out but was still hoping he'd come through the doors. Today I had a chance to ask someone privately and they confirmed it. SO SO SO SAD!

I ask God every day to help me stay sober. I never want to be too sure of my sobriety. There are no guarantees. I just know that I don't want to be the one that picks up a chip and the puts a gun to my head after 2 weeks of drinking. Mike is not the first person in the program I have known who has gone back out there and not made it back and unfortunately, he won't be the last.

I wonder if maybe I should have gone in to talk to him more when he was at work, or talked to him more at meetings or maybe if I'd been at the park that afternoon to say hey and wave, maybe he would have not done it...I know that doesn't make sense but that's what I think about.

I also think about how suicidal I was when I was drinking and even early on in my sobriety. I'm so glad I didn't do it. I would have missed out on so much. I think about all the good that has happened and how I would have never known about it all and how sad it would have made my family and friends. It seemed like things were going so well for him. I wonder what wonderful things would have continued to happen for him if he'd not picked up that drink.

So when I drag my sleepy self out of bed tomorrow and leave my husband and two young children to sit in the basement of a hospital for a hour I will think about dear Mike and how I'm not here for fun, I'm here to stay alive.

So this is a disease that can take 2 years of sobriety and within 2 weeks have you dead with a self inflicted gunshot wound in a city park of a small rural Texas town. Alcoholism is serious stuff and I'm here for very selfish reasons. I'm here to stay alive.

Estate Sale Treasures

2009-09-29T22:24:00.041-05:00

I love going to Estate Sales. I like looking into other people's lives and it's interesting to see what things people have collected over the years;plus, every now and then you stumble across some really cool stuff.

My neighbor across the street had a living estate sale this past weekend. Very convenient to have one across the street. I live in a small town and I think everyone in town came by her house for the sale. The time that I wasn't in her house nosing around through her stuff I spent watching the people come and go. I love people watching and usually we have a very quiet street. So for a new mom who hasn't gotten out much, this was quite an event!!!

The first thing I found was a wooden spool holder filled with thread and a small metal holder. I have already hung it in my studio. I then found a larger sized color wheel. which is not in the picture.

I also found a piece of vintage fabric with a stamp design. Hoping to do a series with postage stamp images using my grandfather's huge collection. This would be great backing fabric for the series.

And finally, an old embroidered dresser scarf. It just looks neat.

The next day I returned and got many more things. Overnight I'd had time to think about what I saw the day before and how I'd use some of the items and where I'd store them. My studio is shared with my washing machine/dryer, recycle bins,dog and kitty supplies and my daughter's computer desk so space and storage require careful thought or I may end up burying myself and having no workspace.

So on day 2 of the sale I got 2 bags of silk and chiffon scarves for art quilting. These washed up quite well and I bundled them by color into a container. Now they remind me of a fabric version of a crayon box. Just need to hide them from my 5 yr. old daughter!

An old quilt that is really a cutter quilt due to its condition. Not sure if I can cut it though. It has a nice flower motif and is hand done. I'll have to take some close ups of the daisy flower design within the blocks.

An unfinished quilt top. Plan to use as a tablecloth.

Another piece of vintage cotton fabric. Love the bold floral design.

And for the grande finale.....A big stash of wooden stretcher bars, a box full of a variety of wiggly/teddybear eyes, and a roll on non-woven interfacing.

I'm very excited about my finds and the have all found happy homes in my studio. Now I need to find the time to make some new things with my new finds;but, my baby boy turned 2 months today and he's growing SO fast... I think I better just spend this time holding him....these new treasures aren't going anywhere. I have the rest of my life to create and sooner than I realize my baby boy will be running around instead of needing to be held ALL the time. Such a sweet little boy!

Charity Auction Quilt

2009-07-18T14:47:00.011-05:00

I made an art quilt for a charity auction this week. The auction is for the National Speleological Society (NSS) http://www.caves.org/ of which my husband is a member. In the past I have made quilts for the state organization;but, the national convention is in Texas this year and they are also having a fund-raising auction. This auction is part of the International Congress of Speleology (ICS) which is being held at the same time as the NSS thingy in Kerrville. It's unusual to have the ICS in the USA as it's only every 4 years and last time in was in Greece. Too bad old Uncle Sam couldn't send Charles to that one! Seeing that Kerrville is just 2 hours from our house;it's more affordable and he was accepted to present about bats, so he's very excited. I'm very excited that baby Charlie is still hanging out in my belly so we can enjoy a family time of no pets, hot breakfasts, no dishes, no housekeeping and a swimming pool before he arrives.

At dinner the other night Charles commented about how it was too bad I didn't make anything for the auction. Of course, SOMEONE had neglected to tell me that there was an auction...HMMM wonder who?

So, in an end of pregnancy burst of energy (we're 2 weeks and couting here) I managed to create a piece to donate. I really like how it turned out and it's going to be hard to give it up;but, the money raised goes to a good cause. I wish I had gotten my act together sooner to enter a piece in the Salon competiton...but I was too distracted by all things baby to get it together by the deadline. I do think some of my best work is done under pressure so I'm pleased with what I have to give and it's always fun to see what the final selling price turns out to be.

I started out by painting/dying fabric with Dye-na-Flow paints.

Decided to go with a cave scene landscape inspired by a trip to Bracken Cave in Comal County.

This is one of the trips the convention goers will have an opportunity to see next week.

I free motion stiched a variety of threads to enhance the painting for the sky
and I used my needle felting machine along with free motion stitching and a variety of fabrics for the land and caves.
For the bats I used some tiny bat brads that I got at a scrapbooking store. It turned out that they were just the right size.

For the backing I used a bluebonnet batik fabric that I got a few years back in Kerrville, which is where the conference is being held this time. It is made especailly for the Creations Quilt Store in Kerrville so I thought that would be a good choice for the back.

http://www.creations-online.com/

I decided not to frame it as the conference is an international one so being unframed it will be easier to pack. It measures a little bigger than a size of regular paper.

I have enough dyed material to make a similar smaller one for my etsy shop www.bybethstudio.etsy.com

and I want to make a whole cloth quilt for my shop of the Blanket Flower that I painted as well; BUT...now I'm feeling tired again!

I titled it "Summer Flight". Sure hope it brings in a good amount and I sure hope little Charlie stays put for the week so I can chill out in Kerrville by the pool and enjoy a freshly made bed and warm breakfast each day...we'll see!

Enjoy the Journey- May Journal Quilt

2009-07-02T19:32:00.015-05:00

Well, I'm getting a little more done lately. Must be that pre-baby burst of energy. Here is May's journal quilt and it's only July 3rd! I've had it done since June though, just now getting it posted while my husband shampoos our carpets...(great benefit of being pregnant).

I started with a base of commercial fabric that looks hand-dyed.

I used a bunch of green curly ribbons from the baby shower that I was given in May. I decided to try to melt and fuse them and it actually worked. I used bonash powder to hold it down and then layered netting on top to secure it in place with quilting to make it extra secure.

This is what it looked like after being melted, fused and layered with netting.

It started to look like a map to me with the ribbon like continents and the fabric like the ocean. I decided to echo free-motion quilt around the green ribbon parts. This reminded me of contour lines on a topographic map.

In the above picture you can also see the needle felted edge that I did with yarn and the Embellisher. I used black yarn to go with the black thread I used for quilting.

At this point I wasn't really sure where this was going as what was going to be a quilt about my baby shower in May had turned into a map quilt. I put it aside for a little bit waiting for an idea of what to do next. One day when I was putting away the gift bags from the shower that had piled up in my studio I came across this ribbon from one of the presents.

It has cars and trains on it and I thought that would kind of go with the map idea and it's from the shower too. I appliqued it down horizontally across the piece and then thought of the phrase "Enjoy the Journey". That fit in too as that's what I've been trying to do this whole pregnancy as I'm thinking this will most likely be my last journey into motherhood as I'm old and tired and our house and cars are now full. Plus, I'm already feeling like we are going to be out numbered with just two. Two is enough for this doubly blessed old lady.

So I machine embroidered the words "Enjoy the Journey".
I used water soluble stabilizer to write the words on so that I would have a guide to follow for my stitching. I stitched over it twice to make it stand out more.

So in the end it did all come together in a way that makes sense to me. YEA!

April is DONE! WHOO-HOO!!

2009-06-10T21:31:00.006-05:00

Thanks to a wonderful day camp for my daughter, I was able to finish up my April Journal quilt. YIPPEE!!! I ended up machine needle felting a large spiral on the piece that I hadn't originally planned on;but, it needed something more and I have a Baby Lock Embellisher that I hardly use and I love spirals...so there you go. It has a spiral...kinda goes with the baby theme...big spiral into little spiral...little spiral into big spiral....

There is a song by Regina Spektor that I love and can't remember the name of except for I sing the verse about putting the love you made into someone else's heart, pumping someone else's blood and walking arm in arm you hope it don't get hard if even if it does you would do it all again...OK, now that I'm signing it in my head I think the name is "On the Radio";but, I thought about that song while felting the spirals.

I think about my sweet Claire and my sweet little yet to be born Charlie and how they have our hearts in their hearts pumping their blood...and I think about my little lovely that was only around for a few weeks when I miscarried in September and how I'd still do it all again... And how I was hoping so much to be able to have another baby since about 2005 and was not really wanting to jump in and get my heart broken;but, I was willing to be open to the possibility. And how when I came home from my aunt's funeral in 2006 and told my husband I wanted more babies, he said he didn't think that after Katrina and my grandma's and aunt's death was really a good time to make a major life decision. And how he was right and I didn't even know I had a brain tumor at the time. And how years later when my brain tumor doctor asked if I was prepared to possibly not have any more children ever again, I started to weep. And how my daughter started praying each night to be a big sister because she asked me for a baby and I told her that she needed to talk to God about it because I couldn't do anything about it and so she did... each night faithfully praying out loud to be a big sister and it would make my heart hurt because I really didn't think it would happen. And how my cycle finally returned after 5 years and by then my husband was willing to take a chance and leave it up to God and just how blessed I really am....and how really little faith I have;but, God comes through anyway and how His timing is really perfect....And how, as my daughter Claire says, "my belly is getting bigger and Charlie is getting stronger" and how in just a few weeks I'll get to meet him! YEA!

April Journal Quilt

2009-05-28T20:48:00.009-05:00

OK, OK, I know it is May 28th and here I am blogging about April's journal quilt. Let's just say I've had a lot going on.

I've been working on gifts for my daughter's teachers and they have been turning out quite nicely. (I'll post them at a future date.) They are wonderful teachers and really deserve a special gift so that's no problem. I've enjoyed creating their gifts.

Oh, and I'm having my second child, a son (Charlie) in about 10 weeks. My scheduled day is Friday July 31st. So, I've been distracted by nesting and cute little baby things...and eating...and resting...and trying to relish in my big pregnant self as this is most likely the last time I'll be pregnant. (I'm old and we only have a 2 bedroom house and a 4 seater car...in other words...we're full.)

OK, so here's what I've done with April so far in between everything else....

I like this pink commercial fabric that has a hand dyed look and my daughter had this cool waste cardboard from a bingo game in a Kid's Meal that looked to me like a great stencil and I just got a bigger container of pearl Lumiere paint.SOOOO....

I laid the stencil on the fabric...

Used a sponge brush to paint on the pearl paint...

And kept repeating until the whole cloth was covered.... TA-DAH!

I have since rubber stamped the words "Mommy's Belly is Getting Bigger and Charlie is Getting Stronger!" (this is what my daughter said in April and what the teacher wrote down on the class notepad when it was her turn for sharing time in pre-school) in black ink to a section of the fabric and I have layered it and will quilt it soon. I will probably quilt free motion circles around the stenciled circled with black thread...not sure exactly when I'll do that;but, it's nice that I have a plan.

Now...need to start thinking of MAY!!!!

March Journal Quilt 2009

2009-04-03T17:29:00.031-05:00

This is my first journal quilt. My quilting buddy, Cindy, and I have decided to do one journal quilt a month between now and next March. Our town, Lampasas, has a needle arts festival each March and we are going to have a display of our year of journal quilts at Cindy's quilt shop, Fatty Corner's Quilts. Her shop is located in Perk's Coffee Bar and is full of all kinds of unique fabrics and art quilting supplies. She also has an Etsy shop and the link is on my Etsy shop page.

http://www.bybethstudio.etsy.com/

So I started with a piece of muslin which I mono printed with acrylic paint a few months ago. It had mainly green and I wanted more blue so I over dyed it with Dye-Na-Flow blue paint and added more blue color with textile pastel sticks.

I wrote in some words with blue fabric pens that sum up this month...

Spring

Rain

RAIN!

Charlie kicks and kicks and kicks

Walks to school

Cool

Lucie escapes often

(Charlie is my baby in my belly due in August and Lucie is our very smart doggie)

I wrote the words on the part that is lighter that looks like a river or stream to me which kinda goes with our getting some much needed rain.

I layered the piece with white netting from the Easter eggs we filled with candy this month and also some blue tulle just cause I like the sparkles.

I free motion quilted different patterns and then machine needle felted the edges with blue and green fabric and yarn. I used torn strips of green cotton lame and torn strips of batik fabric in a bluebonnet wildflower pattern. I used green and blue twisted yarn. The green lame came from The City Quilter in New York City, the batik fabric came from Creations in Kerrville, TX and the yarn came from Quilttrends in Columbus, OH.

I layered it with Hobbs Thermore batting which I won at the quilt guild in Killeen. The backing fabric is a St. Patrick's Day print given to me by my friend and master seamstress, Monnie.

The edges seemed finished with the needle felting and I like the rough look so I just left them alone. It is a little bigger than our chosen size of 81/2" by 11" ;but, it's our challenge to ourselves and we make the rules so I think it's OK.

When I started it I wasn't really sure I'd like the outcome;but, now that it is done, I'm pleased with how it turned out. I think for my first journal quilt, it's a good one. I tried to make it have a Marchy feel and I had fun making it. I showed it to my husband and he said that he thinks part of it looks like a big tongue. Ha! That's funny and true. Can you see the tongue? Until he said that I never noticed it. Maybe it's subliminal because I'm in the "eat the house down" phase of my pregnancy! HMMM??

Valentine's Challenge Postcard

2009-03-16T16:49:00.005-05:00

This is my fabric postcard entry for 2009. I used my Amethyst Dream woven fabric as my background. I really love making and using that stuff.

This is a close up view of the larger heart. The center is fabric paper I created, the middle one is sewn with RickyTims razzle Dazzle thread and the outer one in metallic elastic cording that I couched down.

This is the smaller heart on the right side. It is three hearts sewn using the Ricky Tims Razzle Dazzle thread. This thread on my machine has to be sewn from reverse by using the bobbin as it's so thick.

This is a detail shot of some of the decorative embroidery stitches that I used on the woven fabric background. I used a varigated purple thread for this stitching which gives it a neat effect.

Fiber Arts magazine invited people to send in a fabric postcard valentine. The Valentine was then mailed from their hometown post office in Loveland, Colorado. Loveland offers its own special postmark for the holiday each year, along with a poem, that is lovingly handstamped by local volunteers.
This was their third and most successful year yet. They received over 300 cards to pass along which came from across the United States and Canada and some from as far away as Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

The link to the showcase of 2009 Valentines as an e-book is bleow. I'm on page 9 of the e-book as far as I can tell. It's printed on the bottom right corner of the page.

http://www.fiberarts.com/valentines/valentines-2009.asp

It was a fun challenge and although I didn't win any of the cool prizes, I did get printed in their magazine and on their website. I also got my postcard cancelled with an interesting postmark from Loveland, Colorado and it was also stamped with a short Valentine's poem. I plan to enter again next year.

King Cake

2009-01-06T14:37:00.017-06:00

Today is Three King's Day, Jan. 6th. The day the magi visited Baby Jesus. I'm a New Orleans native so Epiphany, Three King's Day, has always been a fun and special day for me as it is the Twelfth Night of Christmas and the start of Carnival.

Carnival or Mardi Gras season will run from now until Mardi Gras Day(the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday). Today is the day the King Cake parties begin. As a school child that meant yummy cake every day at school unless the person who was supposed to bring the cake forgot. Each cake has a baby hidden inside (represents the Christ Child) and whomever was fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough, depending on how many times you'd gotten the baby and how tired your parents were of having to buy a king cake for the whole class) to get the piece of cake with the baby you were the King or Queen of the day and had to bring the next cake.

The cakes are oval shaped and decorated in carnival royalty colors of purple, green and gold for the three kings. So since I no longer live in New Orleans where King Cakes are readily available, I have had a continuous experiment trying to make ones of my own. Of course many bakeries in New Orleans will ship you a delicious King Cake and I highly recommend that too as my attempts have never quite measured up to the real deal.

HOWEVER, if you would like to try it on your own, here are the ones I've tried...

This was in 2007. My first attempt at baking my own King Ckaes. I used King Arthur Flour Cinnamon Roll Mix and used food colored to color the frosting. I used king cake babies that I had saved from other years.

Last year I didn't bake my own. I was in New Orleans for the new year and flew home with one suitcase full of King Cakes!

This year I did 2 kinds. The first is super easy and worked well for my daughter's Sunday School class. I didn't put in a baby as I worried that they might not know and choke. (not good) All Idid was bake the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls from the can. Before I baked them, I arranged them close together in an oval shape. When they were done I iced them with the icing they provide and then sprinlked on colored sugar. The sugars were actually leftovers I saved from an Easter cookie Wilton sugar cookie shaker type container like you find in the baking aisle. But, I'm pretty sure your can buy individual purple, green and yellow sugars.

The other one I tried this year is a cake for us at home. This time I used Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix. It is in a box near the bisquick and baking/panckae mixes. I follwed the dierctions for the Cinnamon Rolls on the side of the box. I used 2 boxes and it made one cake the size of a cookie sheet. I did hide a baby in this one and I used the same colored sugars as I used on the canned cinnamon roll one.

Here it is before baking....

And here it is fresh out of the oven...

So today we moved the 3 Kings into the nativity scene (yes, I keep my Christmas stuff up every year until at least Jan 6th) and tonight we will celebrate by having cake and my daughter will open a small gift left for her by the Three Kings. It is usally something small and wrapped in gold paper or white paper with gold ribbon. The past two years brought her a toy stethascope and a DVD. This year I think they are bringing her a small doll. We'll find out tonight!

Happy Three Kings Day!!!!

Etsy :: Treasury List

2008-12-31T10:48:00.001-06:00

One of my amethyst dream pieces is featured in an Etsy treasury titled "Got Hearts?". YEA!

Here's the link.....

Etsy :: Treasury List

There are many beautiful purple heart items included.

:) Beth

Spinach Madeleine to Dye For!

2008-11-22T17:34:00.013-06:00

Well today was the day for me to make the big triple batch of one of our family's favorite Thanksgiving dishes, Spinach Madeleine. Some of it is for my husband who is pet sitting and working this year instead of traveling north to Frisco, some of it is for the church pot-luck tomorrow and 85% of it is for my cousin Carmen's Thanksgiving feast.

I think the recipe orginally came from the famous River Road Recipes cookbook;but, my copy is from a list of family recipes my beloved Aunt Celeste typed up years ago and distributed to everyone.

For part of the recipe you have to drain the spinach and reserve the "liquor" (green spinach water) for adding to the recipe later. When I was doing that step it occured to me that I could probably dye fabric with the leftover spinach liquor that wasn't going into the dish!

Here's the spinach and the reserved liquor.

Here is the fabric added to the spinach liquor. I used plain muslin and PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric to compare the results. PFD fabric is treated so that it takes up the dye more readily.
I added a lot of salt thinking it might help with the dyeing and I boiled it and then let it sit w/ the heat turned off for a few hours.

Here's how it turned out after washing out the spinach remnants and ironing it. The plain musling is on the left and the PFD is on the right. The top fabrics are what they looked like before dyeing. I had no idea PFD fabric would turn out so differently! I did this a while back with the blueberry juice that you are supposed to drain from the canned blueberries that come in the box of muffin mix. I didn't have any PFD fabric then so I just used muslin. It came out very light blue. I have a feeling that if I do it again w/ PFD fabric, I'd get much better results!

By the way, I did finish the triple batch, too. Spinach Madeleine to DYE for!

Etsy Mom Treasury-Read and Write

2008-11-21T10:04:00.005-06:00

My Sapphire Dream journal is featured in an Etsy Mom Treasury. You can click on the link below to check out the treasury which includes all kinds of handmade items related to books made by moms who have shops on Etsy. Great place to start holiday shopping!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=22155

Here's my journal that is featured in the treasury. Everything in my shop is 20% off until Christmas!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12024758

Thanks got out to WylesStyle for including me in this awesome treasury. Here's her shop link...
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5230356

Yea EtsyMoms!!!!

Please God help me to stay sober today!

2008-11-15T14:29:00.003-06:00

Well this is a prayer I have prayed now daily for over 20 years.

So far its seems to be working for at least 24 hrs at a time (more or less) as I never remember to pray it at the same time each day;but, at some point during the day I say this prayer and I really mean it. I do it becasue early on someone in a meeting told me that they do it and it worked for them and they were sober longer than me so I thought I'd give it a try and it has worked.

Now, it's not been a "Touched By an Angel" type of thing;but, I believe deep down that the Lord is helping me to stay sober on a daily basis. I'm attending a Big Book Study meeting and came across this part that just reaffirms what I already know...

"The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power." p.43

I thank God that I found recovery. I know that I would not be alive today without it.

I would have nothing, I would be nothing and I would be able to do nothing. I would be a miserable, pitiful, sick, sorry soul. If I were to be unfortunate enough to be alive, I would be actively suicidal and terribly depressed and alone.

I know this because that's how it was when I drank. I was miserable and desperately wanted to be put out of my misery.

God heard my paryers. He led me to sobriety. He gave me the tools and the people I needed in my life to help me to fight to stay alive, to be able to speak the truth, to have courage and to not be afraid.

I know now just how fortunate I am. How much I would have missed had I continued to drink to my death. I thank God on a daily basis for this and I never ever want to take it for granted. It is a gift freely given to me and I take it and want it and ask for it daily.

Thank you God for helping me to stay sober today!

Pokey's Fabric

2008-11-02T20:27:00.009-06:00

Well, a while back I won a pack of fabric from the Quilting Arts Magazine blog. It is fabric dyed, stamped, painted, etc. by Pokey Bolton, the editor of Quilting Arts Magazine . It arrived last week...

Some are canvas...

Others are types of paper (perhaps release paper and lutradur)...

A group of printed words and sheet music...

A group of swirly fleur des lis type images...

And a sheer shiny fabric (my favorite although it didn't photograph well)...

Very, very cool! I will make something soon using this new special stash and post it here.

I do realize that I have a whole list of projects I said I'd do on this blog that I haven't yet done...

projects using my embellisher
quilts using MRI images
ATC/ACEO's using the remaining parts of the beaded tassle that I disassembled
and now stuff using Pokey's fabric

AND, of course, there are the presents that I haven't even started like the one for my mom's 65th b-day that was last week. (I'll post pics of that as well at some point)

Hoping to go to less doctors in the near future so that I should have more time...it's been a doctor filled September and October...hoping to not need to go again until the new year! Don't they know that I have fun things to work on????

War of the Worlds Mixed Media Canvas Book

2008-10-24T14:35:00.012-05:00

This is the cover of my entry into the ETC (etsy Texas Crafters) design challenge for October.

It is a War of the Worlds themed mixed media canvas book. You will be ablte to vote on Monday October 27th and I will add the link to my blog when it's available. Here is the link to my listing in my etsy shop...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16557008

Here is the link to vote. The list is on the right side and I'm the 3rd from the top(Mixed Media Canvas Book ByBethStudio)...

http://etsytx.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-design-challenge-war-of-worlds.html

My entry is also one of the three prizes as I was sent the original inside album cover image to use in my project. This is a picture of what I started with...

I wish I had thought to take my own picture of the inside album cover spread as it's a little different from the above image as I had none of the words shown above. I just had the picture. I think you'll recognize the parts I used when you look at the inside pages of my book. The words read, "The chances against anything coming from Mars are a million to one but still they come." This is the quote that was printed with the inside album illustration.

And this is the back page...

I got the idea for the canvas book from the article titled Canvas Books A Mixed Media Approach to Preserving Memories in the Oct/Nov 2008 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. It was so much fun to make. It took a lot of time; but, I really got into it and had fun. I hope you like the finished product! I sure would appreciate your vote on Monday! :)

Fabric Postcard Treasury

2008-10-14T20:31:00.004-05:00

My Pirate Cove fabric postcard mini-quilt is featured on an Etsy Treasury of fabric postcards.

Here's the link if you'd like to check it out....

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=15003

Quilt Display at Herb and Art Fest

2008-10-13T11:07:00.004-05:00

My friend and quilting buddy, Cindy, owns Perks Coffee Bar in Lampasas, TX. This past weekend we had a quilt display in conjunction with the Herb and Art Fest. This is my side of the display board. I put a variety of items that are my favorties throughout the years.

This is one of Cindy's matted pieces titled "Dream".

This is an art doll by Cindy. It is her muse doll and the face is a mirror so when you look at the doll you see yourself...you are your own muse!!! Pretty Cool! Cindy is SO talented and she also sells art quilting supplies at Fatty Corner's Quilts located in the coffee bar. If you are ever in central Texas needing art quilting supplies, go to 3rd Street in Lampasas!

This is "Mom is Wow upside down" again by Cindy. She made this as a gift for her mother-in-law. It says Mom on the front and when you raise it up to see the back it says Wow! (Did I mention that Cindy is very talented?)

Owl Quilt

2008-09-27T21:12:00.003-05:00

Here's my latest project. My daughter named it "Owl Night" and it is hanging in her room. That is what happens when you ask a 4 yr. old for advice on hanging Mommy's creations... they all end up in her room. :)

I mostly follwed the directons in the Aug/Sept 08 article "Being Pet-ty Quilted Pet Portraits" in Quilting Arts Magazine. I modified it a little;but, followed it for the most part.

Now of course this owl is not a pet. It is done from a picture of an owl statue that we have in a part of our garden we call "The Owl Nook". I have all kinds of little owl statues tucked away in that corner.

At night, when I'm lying awake unable to sleep for various reasons, I can hear the screech owls that live in our yard (these are real owls now, not the statues!). We have other owls that come through our yard on occaison;but, the little screechies have been around for years having fuzzy little owlets.

So here's my tribute to them, a fuzzy little purple owl that now watches over my daughter as she sleeps. :) Beth

Green and Purple Etsy Mom Treasury

2008-09-18T20:48:00.004-05:00

Yea! One of my ATC's is featured in this EtsyMom treasury...

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=9388

If you would like to find other great items by other moms on Etsy just search "Etsy Mom Team". Also the Etsy Mom Team has its own blog in case you would like to join the team...

http://etsymom.blogspot.com/

Patchwork Treasury on Etsy

2008-09-09T11:14:00.002-05:00

One of my Sapphire Dream ATC's is featured in a treasury on Etsy along with many other lovely blue patchwork items. Check it out....
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=6718

Lucky Number 7 Piece of Toast

2008-09-06T22:32:00.003-05:00

This is the piece of toast that was served to us at breakfast today! Pretty freaky! It really has a number 7 on it! I'm selling it on eBay just out of curiosity to see if someone will actually buy it...

Here's the listing if you want to check on it during the week to see if it's going to sell...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lucky-and-or-Holy-Number-7-Piece-of-Toast-Bread-OOAK_W0QQitemZ320296313966QQihZ011QQcategoryZ1469QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This has been a fun highlight of a week that has been spent watching hurricanes in the Gulf with my family who is evacuated here from Gustav and is waiting to see where Ike goes before heading home to New Orleans. If the piece of toast sells, I will donate the money to hurricane recovery efforts.

Apple Printing-Back to School

2008-08-26T17:50:00.012-05:00

My daughter and I tried our hands at apple printing the other day. Etsy Texas Crafters had a design challenge this past Monday and one of the themes was Back to School. Apples seemed to be a good fit. I did some printing along with my daughter and then even used my new embellisher to needle felt the finished quilted piece. I'm really quite pleased with the resulting mini-quilt. It is listed in my etsy shop, bybethstudio.

Here's my daughter's hands loading the apple with paint...

We just used regular acrylic panit on cotton fabric. Here's the printing in progress (this is my side of the fabric)...

Here's the free-style painting that my daughter did along with the apple printing...

She has titled her fabric "Butterfly Garden". I will soon quilt and embellish her piece as well and will post a picture of the finished piece. Claire LOVES my sewing machine and embellisher so I will have her help me with that part too.

We also saved the apple halves and are going to print with different colors on different fabrics later in the week. I'll post the results of that printing session, too.

Welcome Back to School!

Embellisher Practice Samples

2008-08-18T08:43:00.010-05:00

Well with the encouragement of my quilting buddy, Cindy, I got over the fear of screwing up my new machine and dove right in. I have started practicing on fleece and have tried a variety of items as embellishment such as , fleece yarn, regular "fuzzy" yarn, metallic yarn, yarn woven with threads and just fleece pieces. We were both impressed by how well the 2 items are felted together into a very solid new creation.

Here is the front of my fleece sample strip....

And here is the back.....
Now that I've over come my initial trepidation, I'm really having fun.

I'll post more later as I continue to experiment with my new toy!!!

My Newest Toy

2008-08-12T15:01:00.006-05:00

Well, there she is...my latest toy, a Baby Lock Embellisher. I got a steal on the EMB7 from a sweet lady in Minnesota.

It should arrive here this week.

After a long while of googling, searching blogs, calling local quilt stores and fantasizing, I'm eagerly anticipating its arrival.

After feeling like I was involved in new car-like negotiations with a local quilting store (amazing how a price can drop by $400 seemingly overnight???, good thing I didn't jump at the expensive-ass first price...who are they kidding here?) I found this brand new, never opened one on Craig's List and the seller is a fellow etsy person (etsian?). So it has 7 needles instead of the 12 of the new model...that's ok! I really don't even know what to do with the 7 needles it has. I'm sure I'll have fun learning!

So, I made a new etsy friend and got a cool new machine at a great price.

Keep checking back for pictures of my first attempts at creating things with my new baby. YEA!!!

Any input on good sites and blogs with project ideas and how-to's is appreciated. :)

ETSY front page! YEA!

2008-08-07T21:21:00.003-05:00

On August 2nd I was featured on the front page of Etsy! YEA!!! My little green ATC/ACEO is in the top left-hand corner! Yea!

Beaded Tassel Inspiration

2008-08-06T15:34:00.013-05:00

I scooped up this interesting tassel on a shopping trip with my daughter a few weeks ago.I have disassembled it into its components and I'm using the parts in different ATCs/ACEOs for my etsy shop bybethstudio. Here it is in parts....

Here are 2 ATCs/ACEOs that I have made so far using the parts...

They are both newly listed in my etsy shop http://bybethstudio.etsy.com/ .

I'll post the others as they are created from the parts of this one tassel...you just never know when inspiration will strike! Keep creating! :) Beth

The Good Lord Will Take Care of Us

2008-07-27T21:51:00.002-05:00

Amelie and Sandra-Katrina Block
Originally uploaded by bybethstudio

This block is in memory of my father’s cousin, Amelie Dalier (82) and Amelie’s niece, Sandra Richard (58). They drowned together as the flood waters consumed the first floor apartment that they shared on Cleveland Avenue in Mid-City. In their obituary it states that despite urgings by family and friends to leave the city, they decided instead to stick it out as neither one owned a car so evacuation would be difficult.

Claire Dalier, Amelie’s sister-in-law recalled Amelie saying, “The good Lord is going to take care of us.”

Amelie’s words are the inspiration for this block. In thinking about the block, I wanted to illustrate Amelie and Sandra rising from the flood waters of New Orleans into heaven and ultimately into the arms of the good Lord whom, I am certain, is taking care of them for eternity.

Love, Grandma Betty

2008-07-24T22:31:00.002-05:00

Grandma Betty-Katrina Block
Originally uploaded by bybethstudio

This block is in memory of my grandmother, Elizabeth Lay Eastwood MacConnell, a long time resident of the French Quarter who died while evacuated in Texas on September 29, 2005 exactly one month from Katrina’s landfall.

The main photograph of my grandma was taken by a photographer in 2005 at The Quarter Scene Restaurant where she ate breakfast daily. It really captures the essence of my grandmother. The smaller picture is one of the four generations (Grandma, Mom, myself and my daughter) that was published in the Times-Picayune shortly after my daughter’s birth in 2003. The excerpt is from a collection of letters written to me by my grandmother. It states, “It was nice to have Beth and Claire here for a visit-We enjoyed showing off 4 generations of girls at our favorite restaurant. We didn’t tell them-they figured it out by themselves-I guess there must be a resemblance between us.”

I used cat fabrics for both the front and back of the block as my grandmother was a “cat lady”. The beads are an old pair of glass Mardi Gras beads which remind me of the necklaces that my grandmother would wear regularly and they also represent her love of New Orleans.

One of the blessings of the evacuation (although, we didn’t see it as a blessing at the time ) was that my mother, my father, my husband, my daughter and myself were able to spend every day for a month together before Grandma got sick and died peacefully. My grandmother told my mother earlier that she dreamt that she would go to a small town and die there. Although she missed New Orleans terribly during the evacuation, small town Lampasas, TX reminded grandma in many ways of her small town childhood home, Owego, NY.

Brainy Ideas

2008-07-13T13:38:00.003-05:00

So I'm thinking of doing a series of "brainy" quilts...mostly minis and ATCs using MRI images of the brain (my own brain of course).

I had surgery last year for a non-cancerous tumor and found out last week that I'll need a little radiation as it's growing a little...Bad tumor! BUT.... good radiation...cyberknife radiation that is supposed to be very specific to the tumor and has very few side-effects.

I am so fortunate that it's NOT cancerous and is very slow growing and I really have no symptoms. I am however surrounded by MRI images and brainy talk and of course my way to deal w/ all of this is to create and turn them into something fun and wonderful to me so if anyone has links to brain fabric or stamp images or brainy trinkets and feels like sharing the info, I'd appreciate it. Plus the MRI images are all black and white flim and digital images which is really appealing to me from an artistic standpoint there are so many cool posiblities ... dyeing, painting, etc. not to mention cutting them up and also altering them on the computer....

Pre-surgery last year I talked up the idea of having a post-surgery brain party(although I never did) and found all of this cool brain stuff on-line especially on etsy...SOOO if anyone has a really great brainy site on-line...I'd love to know about it!

Quilt for a Hero

2008-06-30T09:47:00.005-05:00

Well my latest project is a quilt for my father-in-law. He's a true American hero having served in the Army in the 60's and doing at least 2 (perhaps 3) tours in Vietnam. He's having prostate cancer surgery tomorrow and I hope to have his lap quilt done within the week to send to him. Here's a picture of the layout of the blocks. I'll start sewing them together later toady. Still might play around with the placement though...

The pattern is "Blue Bamboo" out of the book "9-patch Pizzazz" by Judy Sisneros.

It is a little smaller than I thought but will work as a lap quilt or even a wall hanging. I will probably make a throw pillow to go with it out of the leftover scraps and another Army panel.

Thanks Phil for your service and sacrifice for our country, USA!

Doing what I love to do! Art Quilting!

2008-06-26T23:02:00.003-05:00

I Love My Boring Life!

2008-06-26T21:53:00.003-05:00

Ok, well this is my favorite saying, has been for a while now. I was going to title my blog this;however, someone else has already done that...see how really boring my life is?

So, I don't really know what I'm going to say on this blog but you will get a glimpse into my boring life.

Of course, my life REALLY isn't boring BUT ... when I discovered I was pregnant in 2003 I had to fill out TONS of paperwork just to see a freakn' doctor and one of the multitude of papers was a friendly survey about my intimate life...

Do you know the father of your baby?(yes)
How many men could possibly be the father of your baby?(1)
Does the father of your baby know he is the father of your baby?(yes)
Are you afraid of the father of your baby?(no)
Do you drink?(no)
Do you smoke?(no)
Do you use drugs?(no)
Do you abuse drugs?(no)
Do you have a home?(yes)
(I think you get the idea.....)

So, I realized at that point that I have a really boring life and I'm so thankful for it! Thank you God! Thank you God! Thank you God! Of course, as I may or may not get into later, there was a point in time when if I had continued on a certain road and managed to live through it all, my answers to the above questions could have been MUCH, MUCH different! Thank you God!