Valerean

Sometimes I get ideas from the stories I write that are so strong and clear I can't ignore them. That's the reason I bought a giant ball of bejeweled handspun art yarn back in April and then started looking for a basket, which took two months and I only found a week ago in an antique store in Winter Haven. I sat down to weave the art yarn into the basket. Please note, I have zero experience with weaving. Didn't matter. I knew what I wanted to do in my head. Several hours later, this was the result. It was inspired by a character in a story I'm writing, and that's about all I can tell you about that, but it is 100% what I saw in my head. That really never happens. I can't tell you how satisfying it is to make something that only existed in my imagination. I will probably crochet a lining for the basket next month, but I'm so happy with the final result I'm fine with leaving it as is. Wonderful experience.

While at the antique mall where my donated throws were being sold I saw this pretty portait of a frog made out of beads, brooches, necklaces and other bling, and had to take a photo of it. This artist is so clever with how they recycle vintage jewelry and findings into new art. That day this little guy came home with me. He was cheap, made from a very old crazy quilt, very shabby, and has a serene quality that primitives sometimes possess. He'll be hanging out with me in the sewing room. Was it necessary to buy this? Nope. Do I regret the purchase? Nope. I also bought this apothecary jar filled with buttons, threads and other wonders. If you want to sort through it with me, check out more pics here .

I thrifted a book of origami that included the papers from our local church thrift for $1.99, and decided to try a few of the designs as something different and fun to do. This bunny was my second attempt (the first I had to abandon when I couldn't figure out the directions.) Then I made a swan. Origami is pretty exacting, and sometimes the way the illustrations show to fold the paper is confusing. But I like the results when I do get it right, so I'll keep practicing. I'd love to be able to fold a thousand paper cranes. :)

One morning a few weeks ago I was starting my morning routine when I noticed dried blood on my ankle. I vaguely remembered scratching an itch in that area before I went to bed. Evidently my skin is getting so thin I can tear it with my fingernails. This is one of a few new body problems I have to deal with. Note to self: get the Benadryl lotion when you have an itch. I would like to write more poetry (the inspiring kind, not the depressing kind) so I invested in this poem-a-day prompt book. It has nice pages with a one-line prompt and space to write a poem under it. Only I forgot that due to my arthritis I can hardly hold a pen any longer. Ah, well. I'll type the poems on the computer. I have a story I want to write for pleasure this summer, and I decided to try some free AI online image generators to see if I could create cover art for it that way. I have only tried using AI a couple of times and was expecting something half-assed, frankly. Plus it's ver...

Although I'm finished with spring cleaning for the year, I decided to redo the walls in my home office, and hang up some new pieces. This is fun, and since I haven't changed the art on the walls in a couple of years I had a lot of new pieces to display. My art quilts and totes look nice, and although they're a bit unconventional, they make me happy -- and isn't that the point with a creative space?

On the thrifting front I'm doing a little at the online auction. I have an urge to paint again (I don't know why; I'm terrible at it), but all the art supplies I had are either dried up or too old to use, so I put in a bid on this lot of supplies. There are actually 20 journals in this lot, which I plan to make covers for, embellish and then give as gifts. This little quilt has the most charming primitive applique work I've seen in a while, and I'd love to add it to my collection. Stay tuned to the blog to see if I win any or all of these.

Sometimes my curiosity about artists gets the better of me, and I go in search of information on them. In this case my search was spurred by the second panel of the tote that I was making from a vintage curtain for the March edition of my calendar project. While I was embroidering the panel I saw a copyright stamp on the fabric, and later decided to do a Goodle search on Cheri Blum, the artist. Sadly she passed away in 2003 at the heart-breaking young age of 34. This is part of the reason I've always devoted my free time to my own creativity. You never know how much time you'll have in life for your art. Cheri's work lives on in the home decor industry; her art has a timeless, effortless style that I think will continue to appeal for a long time. I was certainly swayed by it to thrift the curtain I'm using for this project; it was her painting on the edges (of narcissus, as it happens, not paperwhites) that caught my eye. I decided to get my butt in g...

I've created an album with pics of my 2025 mini-quilt calendar project for anyone who wants to see more, and read my thoughts about the project and how it helped me get through what has been a horrendous year.

Sometimes I need to be reminded that by creating art I belong to a community of makers who do the same. I think it's the isolation; I need to get out and get inspired by others in person when I can, or seek out their creations when I need comfort or a boot in the creative butt. The county quilt show did that this year, and so does the Orlando Weavers' holiday show when they come to town every December. I've attended it for three years now, and I always score beautiful hand woven art yarn and kitchen towels, but more importantly, I can be around other makers and talk with them. Had a blast at the show this year. :) I invested in some native made jewelry with pearls for Kat's Christmas gift, but because she's not coming to visit us this year I can't see her opening them. On the upside, it was nice to be able to ship her gift direct to her from an indy jewelry shop in the islands. I got myself a pearl bracelet from 14carrot, my favorite Etsy selle...

This past weekend my guy and I attended the Halifax Art Festival in Daytona, only I can't show you pictures of the artists and their work because that's a big no-no at juried shows. It was pretty cool, as were some of the sights along the river. Daytona has some of the most interesting architecture in central Florida, with some buildings dating back to the turn of the last century. This place and the cool restaurant with the fountain and ivy-covered brick walls is for sale, if anyone is interested. :) Here's another building, art deco in style that was built in 1932. These always make me feel like I've stepped into a Batman movie set. If you're ever in town, walk around and enjoy the art even without the festival.

This is an end-of-the-year photo collage I made for my old blog back in 2018; I cobbled together pics of the best of the quilts and quilted objects I made throughout that year. I did this for some time until my arthritis started seriously damaging my hands, and I couldn't quilt as much as I wanted anymore. I like seeing at a glance what I have been able to do in a year, and it reminds me that all in my life is not negative. For self-care maybe I should revisit this habit in some different ways. I did a couple of quick mock ups to see if I have enough pics to put together (I would wait until the end of the year and redo this one before making it official, obviously.) I'm crocheting a lot lately, though, so an annual crochet collage would be fun. I could also do seasonal themed collages of the different projects I make, as well as fun thrifted finds. I tend to only put any value on my quilting, but I do a lot of other things, too, so everything doesn't have to b...

Going through my photo archives made me realize for the first time how often I'm crocheting throws; I will likely end up making five or six this year. Crochet work is great physical therapy for my hands, and because I've been doing it for 59 years I'm fairly skilled (I will never be an expert, and I still have problems reading some patterns, so take that as a disclaimer.) I'm also able to thrift all my yarn now so the materials are extremely cheap. Working on a crochet project reminds me very much of my grandmother, who taught me the art when I was five years old. She made hats and baby blankets, and thought it was something useful for a woman to know how to do. I fell in love with it because I admired her so much, and because it was fun. Crochet also makes me happy now because it is something I can still do without a problem, which is something I can't say about any other skill in my repertoire. This year working on my annual art project by makin...

While cleaning out the back bedroom to remodel it I came across an old wicker hamper in which I stored some small quilted pieces as well as what I kept of an old year-long art project. Fourteen years ago I didn't have much time for art, but I was so stressed out from work that I decided to make time to do a little every week if not every day. I began my calendar annual projects quest on my old photoblog by taking a picture every day and posting it (that also helped me learn how to use a digitial camera.) My second annual project was to make 1000 artist trading cards in a single year (which I did!) I gave away about half of them during my last public appearance as an author, but I kept the ones that were personal or special, like these quilted ATCs. There are 100 in the hamper, and I'm so glad now that I kept them. I can't do this fine stitching anymore, and there are many good memories in this bunch. Maybe someday I'll make a wall hanging out of them.

Last Friday my guy and I took a stroll through the historic district in Kissimmee, Florida. To see some amazing street art, check out my album of pics here .

I'm almost ready to start work on designing my summer art quilt for 2025, which will be the pink-only Art quilter's bingo challenge quilt (say that ten times really fast, ha.) I usually make what I like during summer, as it's my favorite season and I tend to indulge myself, even with new projects. Projects I make from challenges or patterns, however, put me a bit more on edge. This t-shirt quilt turned out to be a bear to piece and quilt, but it's also become my favorite quilt to snuggle up with. I also really like how challenges inspire me. Making this quilt out of a one pound bundle of vintage fabrics chosen by someone else pushed me to consider how to use lace as fabric, with lovely results. My last one-color art quilt challenge helped me get over my hatred of yellow, so it's good for me (I still dislike it, but I'll use it now, versus completely avoiding it altogether.) I've had a long and unhappy history with the color pink, which I associa...

Writing poems with a free concrete poem generator is fun. :)