Bundles of Love Report

I thought you might like an update on the Iraqi Bundles of Love 2 project!

The bundle total this time came to 900! Okay, not as many as the first time around, but very appreciated by the women and sewing groups in Iraq. I'm glad we can help build relationships that may help build peace. If you'd like to see some of the photos, check out this post by Major Art La Flamme:

http://ibol.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/more-on-the-box-count-distro-and-houston/

Thanks to you who helped out!!! We can make a difference!

I Heart Fall

Have a Wonderful Day!

Flowers at Pike Place

Have a Wonderful Day!

Modern Wool

Here's another wool piece.



Wool After Kandinsky,  9"x12"

I love the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky. This is not a wool version of one of his paintings- just inspired by his strong compositions. I made this a while back, but I've never framed it. Which direction do you like better? (I think I composed it  as the top photo, but it's been long enough ago, I'm not sure. And as for a frame- any ideas? Just a plain black frame? Or a big white mat and then black frame? Or?

Make it a Wonderful Day!

Honey Pear Topping

You're going to love this! It's yummy and sweet, but with a hint of ginger to give it some zip.

Local pears and local honey, along with fresh ginger and a touch of lemon juice. Toasted pecans and chopped apples. And a big scoop of cottage cheese. For lunch. Oh, so good! 

And then the next day, I added some pear vinegar to the topping to make it into a salad dressing to use on baby spinach leaves, topped with more of the toasted pecans. (Sorry, no photo of the salad..we were too busy enjoying it!)

Honey Pear Topping

4 ripe pears, peeled and cored

4 Tablespoons mild honey

1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Process lightly. Use immediately or cover tightly and refrigerate.

For my first lunch, I chopped one seeded apple, and put in a large single serving bowl. Topped with a scoop of cottage cheese. Spooned  a generous amount of the pear topping over the cottage cheese, finishing with the toasted pecans. 

  

For the Honey Pear Salad Dressing...  Add pear or other mild, fruity vinegar to the pear topping, a small amount at a time, to taste. Use with baby spinach leaves or other greens, crumbled gorgonzola or feta, and toasted pecans.

Natural Selection

 Have a Wonderful Day!

Wooly Pumpkins and a Kitty Cat..

I just pulled out my wool pumpkins, made a while back.

I didn't use a pattern, but was inspired by a few pumkin illustrations I've seen over the years.

And Juniper found a little patch of sunshine to sit in while she watched me take pumpkin pics.

Make it a Wonderful Day!

Field Trip to Tacoma Art Museum

My college roommate lives near Tacoma, so she and I try and get together occasionally to see art and have lunch. We both enjoy reconnecting about family and our current events, but it's especially fun having a friend to share art with!



Dale Chihuly glass
We enjoyed the art glass of Dale Chihuly, the collection of Japanese woodcuts, and the wonderful sky paintings of Victoria Adams. And take a look at this giant peace crane, constructed from foam core that's been spray painted and then bolted in place on the balcony railing.

I really like the old brick buildings in the neighborhood, with their faded paint advertisements.

And it's fun to visit the "Make Art" space after being inspired by looking at the art...

They had materials available for printmaking with foam plates...K used a sunflower image inspired by her recent trip to Italy...I just played around with curved, leafy lines.

And after printing a few times with my plate, I decided to cut it up and print with the pieces...

This looked like fun too- collage with yarn is a great way to explore line and texture. Wish we'd had more time!

It was fun to see what other aritist had left on the inspiration boards.

Oh, and here are a couple more Chihulys for you to enjoy!



Make it a Wonderful Day!



Flowers at Crystal Springs

Have a Wonderful Day!

Sharing at September's Q-Group

We met LAST Friday, so I'm a bit slow getting these posted...but hope you enjoy seeing what our little group's been up to!

Claudia shared two fabulous antique quilt tops, both hand pieced. They belong to her neighbor. (I think Claudia's going to machine quilt them...is that right??)

Love all the great old fabrics and the scrappiness.

She also brought a strip of thesse curved pieces. I think they'd look great running across a solid quilt.

Love these old bows...

Marsha's taking a trip to England, and is making this quilt as a hostess gift.

Yes, you read that correctly. Pretty awesome hostess gift!!!

See this fabric?

And this one?

Marsha purchased these clothing items for $10 each, not in her size, to make a few of these:

She borrowed these from Helen as her guide, and will re-use the clothing, including the zippers, to make a few more gifts to take across the pond.

This Tshirt quilt was also made by reusing clothing... this one is by Lori, along with her daughter, for her SIL. He may have wondered where all of his favorite Ts had dissappeared to!

Terry did a wonderful job on the quilting!

Denise shared her cute yoyo hearts on wool pillow...

and a WIP in a favorite color scheme of mine...

She also made two sweet aprons, one for a child and the other for an adult. I love the yoyo detail on the little one!

Terry brought her nine patch. She said it wasn't her favorite color scheme, but I think it's sweet!

No meeting of our group would be complete without a circle quilt- love the backing fabric Terry used on hers!

Ardith showed us a WIP she's making for a young girl, who will LOVE the LOVE that went into this!

Last but not least, we packed up a few boxes for Iraqi Bundles of Love.

We shared our talents, our sewing supplies, and a great meal...friendship, food, and fun!!

Make it a Wonderful Day!