Crazy fun filled daze!

This Summer has been a blur of activities and it is coming to an end, the grandkids all started school and I am busy getting ready for the San Diego Quilt Show. My classes are next week, there is still time to sign up if you would like to take one of my two classes. www.sandiegoquiltshow.com 

I will also have my new Monster Mats kitted up in my booth along with my other patterns! Its should be a great show! The fall is always so exciting with the new shows and holidays right around the corner! It is also super busy time and I just love it! 

 I have been working on lots of fun things this summer, getting new items on my website and designing and painting too. I am loving my new patterns, here is a sneak peek at some of my latest projects.

My newest quilt features my new Fabric Line called "Wild Things", tons of fun. And then there is my Mug Rug Club which is doing well too! 

Last Month we learned about value and did a bit of an art quilt. 

My new quilt to be released soon.

So my summer was amazing, here is a little bit of some of the amazing things that I was able to do that I haven't had a chance to share with you! 

1. I went to see Cher in concert!! Yeah, another thing off of my bucket list, and as a bonus I got to see Cindy Lauper too! This concert was amazing!!! 

2. I went to Asheville, NC for an Uplevel conference for my business and met a bunch of amazing business women and men and I took the time to go and see the Biltmore Estate, wow, amazing!

3. I had lots of great days with the grandkids and family in our backyard.

Blake and Bryce

Campout out back in the tent with the girls

Enjoying the crazy weather in August

4. Taught some classes!

5. Took Jennifer to see Cesar Milan in Vegas, of course we took Chloe too!

Just a few things I wanted to share, life is good! So many things to be thankful for this summer. I hope your summer was full of fun too and that you are as excited about Fall as I am!

Custom Collage and mix media workshop- March

I have decided to do workshops here at my studio due to the requests from my amazingly wonderful students. I find that trying to do these types of workshops and classes where so much "stuff" is required makes me almost have to disassemble my studio and try to transport it. I find I always forget something that would have worked too! I am planning on doing a different workshop each month and based on the response I will add classes or adjust the schedule. This first class/ workshop will be on creating your story. To read more about the workshop and sign up visit my website;
www.desireesdesigns.com . To assure my students have adequate room to work and all they need to be successful I am limiting the size of the workshops so we can be in a more intimate environment and learn to focus and get into the "zone". I hope to see you in March! Watch for more workshops signup soon.

Day Two of abstract design class with Katie Paquini

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Originally uploaded by ddhabicht

Day Two of abstract design class with Katie Pasquini
Today we got back our blown up versions of the tiny macro drawing we did the day before with our tiny view finders. My eyes feeling like sandpaper still struggled with all the drawing we did today, but I think today went much better. We moved into more of the designing aspect of art quilting and how to crop paintings to get many good possibilities for quilts. We went over many different aspects of how to approach getting a good design also. Many of the women were just loving the class and I know some were a bit surprised by it. I think that most of the women were excited in some of the possibilities for quilts that they produced painting! I think I would have liked to take something home, some small project, instead I have lots of cut up paintings, which I may or may not use. It made me think about watercolor paintings I have at the house that were unsuccessful, now I will cut them up and re look at them for quilts. I loved the frame that we cut in half and could slide up or down to adjust the size of our crop. Its an old trick I had totally forgotten about. I think that most of our time was spent helping people get comfortable with painting and creating. I am already there, so hoped for more design input. It was a ton of information and exercises to do in two days. One of the women in class was so excited about her design that during lunch she went down and bought all the fabric to make it! That's what a class is supposed to do, inspire us. I do love her work, I appreciate her strict work ethic and the amazingly beautiful quilts she produces, its a testimony to her methods. I learn something new and exciting in every class I take and I did take some new ideas away with me from this class too. I think the possibilities for some very unique quilt options my be in my bag of cut up paintings. Thanks Marilyn for reminding me that sometimes we just need time to digest the information and make it our own before we can put it to use! Thanks Katie! She even signed my books.

After two intense days a few of us signed up for the pincushion class! It was from 7pm to 10pm! I don't know what I was thinking, probably that a fun class would be a perfect finish to all that design. I forgot the fact that we might just be plum tired! We ran over to the hotel to shove a hamburger in our faces before running back to make our class. Oh did I mention that we ran through the quilt show, tried to quickly shop, see the quilts we had entered before eating? We made it to class right at 7 and saw that it was a very full class. We all found our seats and were pleasantly surprised by what the next three hours held. The class was called Pin cushion Party, and it was! Debbie Busby, the owner of the wooden spool in Oregon taught the class and had made up the cutest bags of already cut and in some cases sewn pincushions for us to sew. We received thread, buttons, felt, wool, stuffing, bags, etc, etc. The gifts kept coming and she did a drawing for a free pattern. Although it was a bit expensive I loved it. I think because it was fun, it was easy, it was doable in the three hours and we all left with 5, yes 5, pincushions. I finished 3 of them there, started the fourth and took home number 5. Plus we got all the patterns to make more. Thanks Debbie for making it a great evening, and my eyes could handle this!

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Originally uploaded by ddhabicht

The beginning of our class assignment in Dianna Pontings pastel class.

Store Samples Dogwood

I am teaching a colored pencil technique on fabric for these small panels. This one is a very simple design but I did some micro stippling around it to give it a look of trapunto. The design is quilted first, then colored, then quilted again, in this case heavily and borders were added. I also finished up another one with pomegranites and I will post later. The photo is not showing true colors, the border isn't so bright, matching the dogwoog much nicer. My class at Cozy Cottage in Brea, CA on June 7th, will offer this elegant block to paint, along with other blocks and a table runner.

Long Beach Quilt Show

Well, as rumors have it, some of you know that Marta and I went to the Quilt Show in Long Beach, CA on Friday. I have classes planned all day Saturday so our plan was to go check in and see the show then I would attend classes Saturday, while Marta went to the Aquarium of the Pacific to sketch and paint.

The show was great, we almost ran through it though since we didn't have a full day and we were starving. Lots of vendors and some cool quilts. I love the art quilts, since that's what I do.

Here are a few of the entries, great stuff!

We stayed at the Hyatt, and had a wonderful room overlooking the harbor! The lights were amazing as was the view, from our window we could see the Queen Mary and the dome for the Spruce Goose.

After the quilt show we changed and decided to walk around a bit before deciding where we would eat. We walked down one of the main restaurant rows where the eatery's lined each side of the street. There was live jazz bands playing and the hustle and bustle of the city hummed around us. It was still a bit early so we walked up and down the street reading the menus that were displayed in front of every restaurant. We originally wanted to eat at this little hole in the wall, cafe, wine bar, art gallery, it sounded perfect. When we got there it was a little lack luster and there sandwich type menu wasn't what we had hoped for so we kept walking. There were plenty of people walking the streets and the police were everywhere. They were on horseback, bicycles, cars, walking, they were all over. Every restaurant had outside seating along the street and I wondered if they appreciated the police on horseback or not, considering that the horses would leave gifts wherever they pleased.

We decided on Sevillas, a familiar place where we found things that sounded good. We ordered Sangrittas (Sangria/Margarita combo) and sat outside so we could enjoy the city. It was interesting to be sitting amongst smokers, most restaurants have banned smoking but I guess outside in Long Beach its still OK. We had our fill and walked along the boardwalk and the pier. Marta was watching moving stars in the sky(she swears they were moving) as I watched the people walking and bands playing. It just proves that you don't have to go far to feel like a vacation! We tried to talk her hubby into coming down to see us but he couldn't so we just waved at all the other firemen that drove by.

My classes were good too, the first was taught by and IQA judge and she was teaching binding finishes. Can I say BORING but I got through it. She was a bit slow and methodical in her approach and she had a hard time explaining herself to the class. I wont do that one again. I loved, loved my second class. It was called Fabric Graffiti and we painted, stamped, drew and colored on both fabric and paper. It was a wonderful creative class, very relaxed and the time flew by. I could of stayed in that class another 3-4 hours easy. These are just backgrounds for either journaling or collaging or whatever. Some I am not done with yet, can't wait to come up with a way to use them.