this n that

Our guild hosted Lyric Kinard and I got to take a class with her.  So much fun.  Lyric is a major inspiration to me and I was thrilled to “officially” meet her (not just via online) and also take her class!   We learned about the elements of art and had a “Bad art day” where we gave ourselves permission to play with fabric samples and not get caught up in the minutia of it all.  We focused on the principles and elements of good art design, and I can’t wait to take these exercises further.
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Ok, the Superbowl.  We are Steelers fans, so the Superbowl was not so Super.  But the halftime show!! I love BEP, and while the performance was so-so, the light up costumes!  OH. MY. GOSH.  Loved them, and the thing was… I can do that!  I can make that!  It made me feel very good. Also, I had a bunch of folks messgae me to say “I thought of you!” and that made me feel good.
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The “And then we set it on fire” girls are playing with wax and Batik this month!   I have wax, have wax pot.  Now need to get my stuff out and do it!
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We got hammered by the 20 + inches of snow, but reason #2957 that working from home sometimes stinks is that I didn’t get the “snow day” that everyone else did.  I was jealous of the tweets, FB status updates, and blog posts of my quilty friends saying they were busily sewing while I was busily working.  Boo hiss.
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Work travel begins again and I have to refresh my travel sewing kit.  Those projects are a little stale!

How you know it’s cold in my house…Lilly is a blanket hog.

The old grey mare, she ain’t what she used to be… I will be a dusty old ancient 38 years old today.
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My friend, Melly, is not feeling so good.  Dear Melly and I co-won the infamous “tiara” competition at the Chicago International Quilt Festival some years back.  It’s all Melly’s fault that she introduced me to Pokey from Quilting Arts, so I went from QA groupie to QA volunteer to QA published artist and beyond.  I love Melly’s attitude towards art; she is such an inspiration.  She’s young and fearless and I want to be just like her when I grow up.  I’m crushed that she’s not well, but because I LURVE HER, I’m making her some cRaZy hats…because I love silly hats!
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I will be away for my birthday at a lovely sewing retreat put together by my friend Marie, who was in the Baltimore Guild with me.  There are supposed to be massages.  I don’t know if I’m more stoked for the sewing getaway or the massages!!  ha ha
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I’ve been feeling a bit “glum” because of the lack of sunshine around here lately.  I’ve not been a victim of SAD or “winter blues” before, so it’s very unusual.  It’s been making working from home very isolating.  Sunny days can’t get here fast enough.

“Cheer up, momma” says Lilly, with Vermithraxis sleeping in the background.

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I hope you enjoyed my tutorial for the mini quilt stands I made for my Houston trip, and I am working on more fun stuff for the blog and website to appear very soon! 

I spent the last couple of weeks getting ready for 2011.  My studio makeover is still half finished and is a mess right now.  The nice messages from all the folks reading my article in the new QA issue are making me feel really warm and fuzzy.  There’s so much planned for 2011, I am glad I can share it here with you as we go through the year.
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As if I didn’t have enough to do this year, I made all of my Christmas cards.  I know.  I know!  Silly me!  I used the Quilting Arts Gifts issue from this year to make the cards, using an altered technique of Pokey Bolton’s, and they turned out so nice!  I painted the fabric, fused it on with MistyFuse and then quilted it. It was fun, and surprisingly quick! This is my assembly line to add the red quilting to the cards.
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Still lots going on, but over on the Quilting Arts forum I’m hosting another challenge.  This one is called “It’s My Nature”.  Now it can be anything from a nature-scape, to an interpretation of your own personality.  I like open themes like this because what everyone does is so different.  I wasn’t trained as an artist, so I like to see how other artists think.  Please join us over on the forum and submit a piece for the challenge!  It can be small!  And there’s fabulous prizes!
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Don’t forget that if you’d like an LED kit, you can get them from my Shop page.
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I’m planning my goals and projects for 2011 already.  Don’t forget to vote on my weekly project!
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What a rollercoaster ride things have been for me lately…  
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Our 14th wedding anniversary was this past Halloween, and we didn’t do anything special.  But for taking care of him and letting him stay at our house, my dad sent us these nice flowers.
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I have already booked my hotel reservation for next year’s Houston quilt festival! Yes, it was that much fun.  
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I officially have no plans to travel from now until February.  It feels so good to plan to be home on the weekend.  I do have a quilt retreat in January and a one day art getaway with friends soon, but not much else.
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I’m definitely getting back to the Technique of the Week’s this weekend, so stay tuned for some really cool things!!!

I’m sure you’re thinking “Cheryl, you always say things are soooo busy… but really, another ‘I’m so busy’ post?”.  Well….. yeah, basically.
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This is my dad, sitting on my deck.  See those crutches?  He had knee replacement surgery, and guess whose house he used to recover?  If you guess me, you guessed right.  He was a good patient and house guest, but you never really get anything done when someone is in your house.  What did end up happening is that the electronic components in my gallery show items all were done while watching TV with him.  So I tried my best to kill two birds with one stone, but wasn’t always successful. 
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There’s still so much SECRET stuff happening!  I’m reaching some of my artistic goals very soon, which means it’s time to plan some new ones!  I hope you will be as pleased as I am when it’s all revealed.
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In addition, the quilt guild that I am president of had their small quilt auction this past October 19th.  Right after the New York Comic Con, dad’s surgery, and just before the gallery show? Sure, sign me up!  As President I felt I had to make something to set a fine example.  So I dug through my piles of UFO’s and found this lovey which i finished up right quick to have in time for the auction.  It sold for $60, and I am happy to help our guild fundraiser.
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I am prepping to go to Houston, and the BIG SHOW, and my dance card continues to fill up nicely.  I’m super excited to see all of my quilt friends, so if you will be there, I’ll remond you that I can be found on Saturday from 4-6pm and Sunday from 11:45am to 1:45 pm at the Quilting Arts Make It University Open Studios section!  Come by and SAY HELLO! or something!  This is my first Houston show and I’m super excited.  I plan to bring the laptop and blog from the show.  Would you like that?  
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I’m a HUGE Project Runway fan, and this latest season, while frustrating in it’s reality show ways, has been an ok one.  However the second to last episode had a huge, heartbreaking scene that reduced me to tears and affected me well after the show was deleted from my DVR.  I won’t spoil it, but the designer who is “auf’d” (out) from the show after getting to the “final four” has a very emotional crying jag after learning the results.  They have to go home to an unsupportive family, who has been telling them to give up this dream and live a normal life instead. I was very affected by this person’s plight, and I even found myself hours later thinking about how sad it was that they had to go home after getting so far and how awful it would be to not have your friends and family cheering you on.  It makes me feel so grateful for the support I have from my own family, friends, and even you!  So thank you for your support, and I appreciate every comment, reader, and follower!