Mexican Sunflower in Batik Accepted into National Exhibit

Yesterday I received news that "Mexican Sunflower in Batik" was accepted into a special exhibit at the International Quilt Festival. The exhibit is called In Full Bloom 2010: Floral Quilts in Memory of Helen Pearce O’Bryant! I'm so excited! Gave my husband a scare with my gasp when I read the email, he was driving at the time....
If you go to the International Quilt Festival, whether in Houston, Cincinnati or Long Beach, go by and see the exhibit. The quilts are always beautiful!
With this much excitement I have had to do some work in my studio to settle me down so I can work on one of the three, almost 4 quilts I have started. I have a Dry Erase board above my desk that I have written my "Goals for 2010", so my project this morning was to wipe it down and make two columns: Goals and Accomplishments. I thought if I am able to move the Goals over to the Accomplishments column, that I will stay better focused and driven when working on my quilts. I guess is it a way to stop the distractions that I feel sometimes (everyday!).

Kimono Jacket Finished! And Angel Quilts Started!

I'm so excited about my new jacket! I love the way the fabrics dyed and came together. In my previous post there is a picture of the Indigo fabric. The silk accent fabric was pink Silk Shantung that I discharged and then over dyed with Indigo, Turquoise and Chartreuse. I modified Lois Ericson's "Kimono Encore" pattern to suit my vision. I wanted the back to have some interest (other than the dyed fabric) so I created the lower panel of the silk. The neckline seemed flat so I made a scarf out of the silk too and attached it and then remembered I had a chiffon scarf of the same colors in my closet and added it.
I'm toying with adding some beads to the edges of the scarf, but right now I think I need to get on with creating some quilts and finish painting a quilt I've already started.

I made Hong Kong seam finishes. Hong Kong seam finishes always look so clean to me, especially in a jacket.


Friday I started two Angel quilts. I'm going to start quilting them this afternoon and adding the embellishments. Don't you just love the whimsical nature each of these has?