Virgin Island Trip

I am home! FUN visit with my missionary parents!

They are pointing to the islands they have served on.

With the two young elders that are on St. Thomas with them now (the sisters were transferred out).

Color Your World Your Way

Looking for a Black-eyed Susan flower, I finally settled for yellow cone-flowers and colored in the center, using Jacquard brown textile paint, concentrated.

Before:

Suzanna is like a Black-eyed Susan flower, representing "encouragement." She was our firstborn in Maryland, named Suzanna after great grandmas and brave and bold Biblical Suzanna. She encourages others to be happy, to be good, to be friendly like the warm golden petals of this state flower. Her dark, beautiful eyes are full of truth, honor and zest for life. Look into their depths, and you will see her passion for justice of this "Rudbekia" flower young woman. (For New Beginnings Young Woman program. Leaders asked for a paragraph about our daughter.)

My Posting Streak Will End...

There is a great option, when you blog, to pre-blog. Under "post options" you can change the date to the FUTURE, saving posts as "scheduled." Very helpful, when I will be out of town. I thought I could do it though January, but I am going on a big trip, and I've run out of time! Plenty to show you after February 1st. Bye now!

New Tradition to Document Our Progress

We finished! Not before the end of the year, but it was close. I like how this one of the children turned out:

Max is gone on a Maryland State Boychoir tour for the weekend, and then moving out to live with an aunt & uncle who live 2 blocks away. He is signed up for classes at the local community college. We are extending a standing invitation to him to come home and eat dinner with us every night.

Roxie prayed tonight that Elder Landbeck and Sister & Elder Babcock would be "continually happy" as they work hard as missionaries. And for Emmalyn's headaches to improve, and for Max to come back to Church.

Copy Good Ideas Freely

A family in our stake takes a picture each time they finish reading The Book of Mormon. So here we are!

The Other Project: Fidelity

Deb asked about the other, smaller quilt I was working on (early Valentine's present for John-no real suprise):

During:

Close up:

Washable? Well, sort of, but I wouldn't put it through the washing machine. Heat setting the paints helps permanize, iron over protective plain white sheet. But I usually hang these up on wall, rather than put on beds. If you try it in machine, let me know how it goes! I have vacumned many quilts to pull dust off of them.

I water down the paints and use them like water colors, saturate the quilt where you want them to blend. I've used salt to concentrate pigment in one area (throw on kosher salt where you want extra texture and brush it off when paints dry) wet-on-wet brush, dry brush, resist (using contact paper)all the techniques from watercolor.

Roxie's Quilt

Roxie wanted blues and greens and gold colors.

Process-wise, I started this one with the spires and shadows, then added sky last.

John was busy making dinner and stopped to take this picture, saying, "This is my life."
Tulip "So Soft" fabric paints, lots of water, 100% cotton quilts from thrift store--these were $4.00 each and the one I am working on was only $2.00. These are my FAVORITE quilts to make lately, I don't have to worry about binding or finishing. Can't take credit for the beautiful quilting.