When tennis season ended I was able to get back into the studio. Here is my jacket (when it was in progress) " 'That's Amore' ". It is currently on display at Back Porch Fabrics in California at a show with Rachel Kincy Clark and friends based on Ethnic influences. Italy is one of my favorite countries, the people, landscape, colors, the cuisine. Not to mention it is where half of my family originated! Silk diuppioni and free-motion quilting, finished off with a Murano style glass button. The bags are lambskin and decorator weight tapestries. I also have a batch made with Guatemalan handwovens and Bali batiks. As I complete one it becomes my favorite!! Right now I am finishing up a few quilts for friends/family. The BQ2 pattern is a snap to put together and gives one an exceptional place to showcase some of the beautiful fabrics available today. Bali Pops are packets of 2 1/2" cuts of batiks that I randomly sew into strip sets and then cut into squares, I use the 'Garden Delight' method of setting them and turning them on point. Both are great patterns if you're needing a quilt in a hurry!

I am gearing up for a lot of traveling. First off Jr nationals/curling to watch my daughter play. We will be trading the cold of Fairbanks for the winds of Bemidji! After that I get to visit my sister in Portland Oregon before heading up to Vancouver Canada. I will again be an Olympic Curling Statistician. Fun times, wonderful friends, and the best curling the world has to offer. In March I will be coaching the Team Alaska girls at the Arctic Winter Games in Grand Prairie, Alberta. Packing awaits.....

I have the pleasure of helping coach the Lathrop High School tennis team. They won the season title with the best w/l record, & here is their picture after winning the Regional Championships! It was awesome :) Our boys doubles team went on to win at State. An excellent season all the way around! Now, it's back to the studio. Purses are piling up and I'm going through an amazing amount of thread....

After the kitchen I tackled the guest room. Katy was supposed to spend the summer here, but plans changed. At least the room is ready for visitors and another project completed.... next stop, the studio

I can't seem to keep up with this thing.  Here is a picture of my most recent 'major accomplishment' ... painting my kitchen! I started re-covering my dining room chairs but didn't buy enough fabric.... dang.. I did manage to make matching valances for the dining room windows though.  Aqua - so retro....

Lucky 13!  These don't have borders, yet, but the colors were really great to work with.  I am now onto a costuming project for a production of 'Grease' so switching gears into the 50's!  I dream this pattern and look forward to experimenting with a few more fabric combinations after a brief respite.  Spring refuses to be 'sprung' around here but we ARE enjoying more daylight.

Two more -  I really like these. One is so cheerful and the other one contains some eclectic fabrics that I've had around for awhile.
The red/pink started out looking suspiciously like a Valentine so I injected the orange and purple and it turned out quite pleasing!  My daughter chose fabrics for the other one based on the floral border. A strange color combination but it worked in the end (at least she likes it!).  Three to go and I'll be able to take a breather. My final count will be Lucky 13!

The calendar says it's the vernal equinox and the beginning of spring.  This does NOT pertain to Fairbanks!  It is only 10 degrees, who would consider that spring??  At least the sun is shining longer everyday and the roads are clearing up.  The light has been pouring through my studio windows and it's pleasantly warm in there. I've got two more graduation quilts to piece and then I'll be able to turn my focus to some art pieces.  

My quilt list grew and I'll probably have 12 of these by the time I'm done!

The whole project took on a life of it's own, but I'm having fun with them.

It's been a good way of testing out color schemes, too.

9 down, two to go. Making progress on the graduation quilts, and loving each one more than its predecessor.  This quilt, called Snapshots, is from the book 'Happy Hour'.  (It goes together quickly and smoothly if you need a quilt in a jiffy.  And, of course, you get to play with all your fabric!).  It is so appropriately named for my project. Many happy hours spent watching my daughter and her friends together and taking lots of snapshots. These kids will be scattering like leaves to various colleges across the country next fall.  I'm hoping that when they crawl under their quilt it will help give them a sense of connection to one another.  We've watched them go from kindergartners to wonderful young adults, full of potential and with so many adventures awaiting them.  I'm not sure what an empty nest will bring for me, but more than likely I'll find more time in the studio :)

Just to reiterate - I love cloth! There are so many beautiful fabrics  on the market today. And, if you don't like what's available for purchase --  you can dye, paint, or stamp your own!  Just too much fun..  I have been making a batch of graduation quilts for my daughter and her friends.  It has been delightful digging through my 'stash' and incorporating fabrics from 20 years ago with current pieces.  It's all about color and their personalities. 7 down, 3 to go, and I'm not even sick of the pattern yet :)   I should be working on purses, but this project has been an amazing amount of fun.  I just might get caught up on the backlog of iou's yet....

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote on this... It's been a crazy year, full of family stuff, a couple of different jobs and not enough time in the studio. I think I've finally figured out how to cram everything in - stay up really late and do the dishes when I run out of silverware! 

Last weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Bethel, Alaska (from my home in Fairbanks) to teach  classes for the Kozy Kusko Quilters Guild. A wonderful group of like-minded fiber lovers, which is always a treat. We experimented with silk flowers under tulle; created Japanese kimono jackets; added to our bag collections; and put together quilt tops that showcased some of our favorite fabrics. A very productive weekend, in their aptly named Kozy log cabin! They were gracious, fun, and willing to put up with my schizo personality :)  Teaching four projects almost simultaneously was a challenge, but I think it all worked out in the end!

The sun was shining brightly as we took 'Twitchell's Ten Minute Tour of Town' and snapped a pic on the Kuskokwim river.  No quilting retreat weekend would be complete without a foray to the local fabric store.  On the way to the airport we ducked into Swanson's where I netted a beautiful batik to remind me of my trip.  Next time I'll have to make it my first stop because I'm sure that there were many more with my name on them!!  I look forward to a return trip.

Recently I received some good advice from members of The Purse Forum. As soon as I get a new batch of bags made I'll post them on Etsy.com. This seems like a good place to start in getting my ArtBug Bags more visible on the Web. Not too many people have 'discovered' this blog :) Thanks ladies!!!

Batiks are some of my all-time favorite fabrics!! This is a quilt for a nephew who likes hunting, fishing, and outdoorsy things. I couldn't bring myself to make a 'theme' quilt with fish prints -just too cute!- instead it was fun to work with these beautiful Bali Batiks and the indigo/white Dutch wax resist fabrics. I hope he likes it as much as I do.

Oh man. I had such good intentions about my blog in August & here we are on the verge of April! I went back to a 'real job' in September and have had precious little time in the studio. Now the sun is starting to shine, snow is beginning to melt, and the creative ventures I looked forward to for the winter never took place. I have cabin fever, not to get OUT, but to go INSIDE, in the studio with fabric, leather, and paints. I need to do something creative!

Okay, I admit it, I love color. Why do bags have to be black, or brown, or neutrals? Maybe it's indicative of where I live - we are color starved for the better part of the year. When spring rolls around and the birch trees bud it is so exciting!! When we get a good 'growing season' the flowers around town are spectacular, not to mention abundant. So, in the bleak days of winter it is always fun to go out with a purple or red bag on my shoulder to help remind me that those petunia's will bloom again. I really do like black, too, but lately have been injecting it with colored inlays that match all my wonderful batiks. I can spend hours in the studio just playing with my fabrics. And, no, that is NOT wasted time :) I get inspiration from the colors, the motifs, the textures. Eventually something gets sewn (or at least designed) after these forays. I'm the first to admit I have some slight a.d.d. - but watch out when I get focused!

I've been wondering how a person can afford multiple designer bags at $500-1200 a whack!? The Purse Forum is full of women talking about this designer bag and that bag, how they've got the brown, but have ordered the white, black, or whatever. It boggles my mind. I have to give some serious thought to spending that kind of money on something that doesn't cook my dinner, or drive me to town :) I think that I make some very nice purses - good leather, quality workmanship - so why can't I command those prices?? Maybe I under-value my work, or I just live in the wrong part of the country. It's sort of frustrating, though, to know that I can make someone a bag to their specifications for a reasonable price, and they'd rather have one that thousands of other women have at twice the money.... Oh well, I enjoy what I'm doing, so I'll keep on with it, and perhaps I'll get 'discovered' one day and people will be clamoring for an ArtBug bag :)

Fall is in the air. I am anxious to get into the studio and start creating! I always get a rush of ideas when school starts and my days become my own again. I have a notebook full of purse/bag ideas, and also a dozen art quilts just waiting to take shape.

This was a terrific leather shop in Venice. All those luscious colors of Italian lambskin. Lovely gloves. Hands. It makes me think of all we do with our hands, and what tools they can be all on their own. We 'speak' with our hands; draw; write; sew; weave; knit; crochet; sculpt; carve; make music. Recently I was studying my hands, aware of how like my grandmothers they are becoming. It doesn't bother me that they are no longer 'young' hands. Yes, they're getting wrinkly. I think that the wrinkles show that my hands have character, along with their various scars & the accompanying memories. (some good, some not so good) but all a part of me. I think my Nana would be proud of what's been created by these hands.

Here are a few more of my bags. These are all made out of Italian lambskin. I do reverse applique' inlay, and some also have button embellishments. Bags can be personalized for color and design. The cream colored bag was made for a friend who works in NYC doing stand-up and various tv/film projects - hence the filmstrip :)

I have been researching purse websites and blogs. One of these days I'll forward this address to one of them. It would be nice to get some feedback by 'bag ladies' to see if they like my work. I'm attempting another picture download...

In the past year I've made 3 trips to Italy. The colors, sights, and sounds are so inspiring. I am especially fascinated by the ironwork for use as inlay patterns for my leather bags. Here is an entrance gate I saw at the Arsenale in Venice.