Winter’s work

You saw each of these block individually as each was finished. Now you see them all together as one. I’m not even going to bother cleaning up this photo ’cause Spring has sprung and there’s too much to be done.  Glad this got finished before work began outside. I should mention that this was made of all scraps, a little cotton, a few silks, and lots of polys. 44″ x 44″. You see some of the stuff that either inspires me or is awaiting use.

And here is what I’m proudest of:  a Jack in the Pulpit that was gifted and planted last fall. Larger than life!

Favorite tree

The Uncommon Threads art quilt group’s latest challenge is “My Favorite Tree.” At first I found that trying to limit myself to just one tree was very hard, but as I reviewed some of my old photographs I realized that I really do have a favorite. Or did. A Wahoo tree (Euonymus atropurpureus), native to this area. The tree starts in the Spring with green leaves first, then flowers with rather insignificant small brown flowers and in the fall it’s foliage is red and gold with little red pods opening to red berries. In the winter we used to see a flock of Cedar Wax Wing birds feast and strip it of the berries in just a few hours.

In 2009 we were hit with a terrible ice storm in which you could literally hear tree limbs cracking and breaking and falling. It was a terrible two days. When it was all over the beautiful little Wahoo tree in my back yard had “exploded” and all the branches were broken. All that was left was a trunk.

My first attempt was to print a photo image of the Wahoo foliage onto canvas and then fuse another photo image of the broken trunk onto that. I was not particularly thrilled with this so used it for the back.

Next I used a purchased hand dyed fabric on Etsy for the back ground and fused to it a free hand cut out of the trunk in brown fabric. The trunk, branch and berries are embellished with machine embroidery. then quilted with a free hand leaf motif.

 “Boo Hoo Wahoo” 

Lesson learned – don’t quilt through the canvas. The needle leaves holes.  You can see the other members work on our UT blog here. Enjoy.

Fall Colors 2012

We made, what has become, our annual pilgrimage to Arkansas to see the Fall Colors. Someone asked if I didn’t think the Missouri colors weren’t pretty enough. Yes, they are. It’s just fun to go a little ways away from home. We started out in Missouri on the Glade Trail which took us south to the “Natural State.”

We call this a “knob.”

Who could imagine finding a little Banty Rooster up in the hills all by himself. Such a pretty fellow and he must be lonely.

A lovely ride across Bull Shoals Lake on the Ferry.

Dancing Trees

Several years ago most of the trees in this area of SW Missouri received severe damage in a terrible ice storm. It’s still very evident in the winter time when the leaves are gone. Every time I go down this road I look at these trees and fantasize that they are dancing. Maybe they are dancing for the joy of still being alive!

First Flower

I know I photographed some daffodils a few weeks ago that were blooming about 70 miles south of here, but yesterday, I discovered that my annual first bloomers are up and blooming. Unbelievable to be blooming this early. They’ve always bloomed in March. This is an Iris reticulata. It’s only about five inches tall and the blossom only lasts one or two days. Gotta be on your toes to catch it!

Heading South

We’re fortunate to be in the migratory path of many birds and the monarch butterflies. About a week ago we looked out the living room slider onto the lake and saw some thing huge and white floating in the lake. We grabbed the camera with the telephoto lens and jumped in the car. When we go to the bridge we could tell that it was Snow Geese. What you see in this picture represents only about a fourth of the total number.

The picture is a little out of focus ’cause the lens is heavy and I forgot to grab the tripod but you get the idea.

Then today the Canadian Geese were flying over head, wave after wave of them. It’s a spectacular sight.

And this group came right over the house. They make such beautiful formations.

Apple Sauce and Apple Butter

I’m still busy with my ant vs grasshopper activities. The weekend was spent making applesauce and apple butter.

And evening colors over the lake get better and better.