Journal Pages

The very next thing I have to learn how to do is write text BEFORE the first picture--though I do like to have a picture on the top to grab the reader's attention. Once in advertising, always in advertising. The drawings on the top of this page were for a quilt idea and at the bottom I wrote a description of the "dream quilt" I would make. I had this idea once--I am just FULL of ideas--that quilters could write a description of a quilt they dreamed of making with no barriers as to technique, fabric, time or effort. Just describe the quilt. It would be like a *virtualquilt* and I wanted to display the written work in a quilt show. Viewers could read and imagine the work. I still like the idea.

At this point in time, I am creating mostly floral quilts. I've already made the quilt in the upper left hand corner--made it and sold it-- and you've seen the Orange Marigold in previous posts. A work in progress and needing stamen. The other three drawings may or may not be turned into fabric.

I recently purchased some telephone wire at Radio Shack -50 feet- and inside the hideous beige outer plastic are four slim wires. Yellow, Black, Red and White. All I wanted was the yellow. The Radio Shack guys had never had a quilter in the store before. They were very charming. I told them I was looking for yellow wire and they were creative in their search for what I wanted. I also got to look through the drawers of little connector thingies. Multi-colored and all sizes. None were tiny enough to perch on the end of the thin yellow wires to create stamen. I once took a class in Botanical Watercolor Painting and we were taught to be VERY detail oriented when it comes to botanicals. So I continue to be very detail oriented. Even "fussy". My husband calls it being a "pain in the a**". As I type this, and generally go about my daily business, I am trying to figure out how to attach the wire to the fabric. So I'm at a creative standstill. A fork in the road.


This is a self portrait. Paint brushes, a journal, some string, a rose and a nice cozy bed. Yellow faux finished walls, the sun shining in the white trimmed windows. Maybe I even painted the duvet cover fabric. This is my life.

Keri Smith keeps a running list of items that draw her attention. Today she had hole reinforcements at the top. I bought some a while back and pasted them on a lampshade to make polka dots- my favorite embellishment- and that little dotted shade makes me very happy. I also dotted my big black mailbox out front - with paint not reinforcements. It makes perfect strangers smile. I plan to stick contact paper patterns on my garbage can in the spring (warm weather) and spray-paint polka dots on the can with that new paint for plastic. Think how happy it will make me to drag that can out to the curb each Monday evening after 7 pm (no earlier or the Town police will make me drag it back up the driveway).

I've even considered putting polka dots on my trademark white cotton v-neck t shirts that I wear 365 days a year. I wear solid colored pants or skirt, solid colored linen shirt ( long sleeves rolled twice, unbuttoned) or a cropped solid color sweatshirt with the white t-shirts. No pattern ever. A gardening friend and author of two fine books says I dress like I work for the post office or a prison. He usually sees me on a blue day. Navy blue corduroy slacks, white tee and pale blue linen shirt. After that comment, I bought a white linen shirt covered with very small embroidered black dots. I wear it with black linen pants. I always feel very "out of control" in that shirt. Like fizzy water.