Color Me Quilts- Art Applique

I had the opportunity to teach up in Porterville CA. It was a nice drive, there is something about getting out on the road by yourself and just traveling. The first night I did a trunk show and talked about myself (I'm good at that) and then the next day I taught my Art applique class using my stitched out blocks from my Color me Quilts Embroidery CD. I stayed with Georgia the shop owner and her husband Richard, we had such a great time visiting!! We stayed up late just talking and became fast friends!  This was such a great trip, thank you for having me!

I will be teaching this in Sept at the San Diego Quilt Show and again at the Moore's Sewing Center in Huntington Beach. I hope to see some of you at class. Here are some of the amazing piece that the women did while they were in class. Enjoy!

Love the red sunflowers

Love this sunflower that Rose is doing. It was the most popular block this class!

Is this beautiful or what!! Yeah Brenda!

Love the colors

The class!!

Carmen finished her tablerunner top first, yeah!!

If you are interested in purchasing my embroidery CD- Color Me Quilts-Sugarhill Farms Flowers you can find it on my website with all the details.

Working on some new patterns and classes!

I love the creative process, the designing, the construction, the changes, the design decisions and the completion. It is all about the journey and enjoying each step for what is has to offer. Each step in the process has something to offer and learn from. This last few months I have been working on some new designs for my Art Applique Classes. These pieces are from my sketches at Sugar Hill Farms. I originally sketched live and then Randy digitized so that we can sew them out any time and create some beautiful projects. This new CD is loaded with beautiful designs, both groups and single images.

I know many of you have taken classes and purchased inks, paints, pencils etc only to have them sit in a drawer after the class is over. I wanted to create a way for you to use up some of those supplies and create some beautiful projects too! The CD is called Color Me Quilts-Sugar Hill Farms Flowers and it is available on my website. If you don't have a machine I am also offer the pre-stitched blocks so you can color them and create your own projects.

You get all the stitch files plus more, single designs also for those smaller projects or blocks on the CD. If you don't have an embroidery machine I also sell the pre-stitched blocks for you to buy and create your own project!

I am teaching the colored pencil technique in my online class, learn how to make your own templates and use colored pencils to color and even make them permanent for washing!

table runner or wall hanging

after details of quilting(not included on the CD)

I will be teaching this year at the San Diego Quilt Show, we will be coloring these flowers and having a ton fun, I hope you can join me! Follow the link and look for my two half day classes called Art Applique!

The Tea Party!!

I can't say it was the best timing, 3 days before we fly out for a trade show, a million things still left to be done but it just had to happen on this day. To celebrate Mother's Day, my daughters, my friends, my students. It was a day to celebrate. I needed a soul day, a day to just do something that brings me pure joy no matter the timing.

I sewed up to the last minute and then began the clean up process and shopping. Jenn helped me decide where the tables would be, where the tea pots would be, the flowers etc. It was a fun, crazy time together picking recipes and scrambling. But as soon as we began it seemed to be here. We had sent or weather order straight to heaven and God obliged with the most beautiful day, 75 degrees. The wind was calm and the guests started to arrive. First to arrive are the close friends and family who always help with any last minute things and seem to help me pull it all together.

The doorbell continues to ring, more people now mingling around and we find our way to the well thought out tables where the party begins. The tables are full of food, flowers and tea cups. I made sure the Rose Petal Tea was hot and the Rose Petal Jam was on warm biscuits. We all start to share some of our Mothers Day memories!

After we were full and relaxing in the shade I passed out watercolor paper, water brushes and assorted art supplies to encourage everyone to create something. Some had their own sketchbooks, some had sewing, knitting and thats how the last few hours were spent. Chatting and creating beautiful things in my garden.

It was just what I needed, a dose of friends and family there celebrating our Moms! It was a gift to them as much as to myself. I hope all of you have an amazing Mother's Day and that you take the time to make a mom feel special!

Funky Flowers

I love just playing with art, starting with just a black canvas and letting magic happen. No preplanned idea, no layout just splash on the paint and let the intuitive part of art happen. Today with a friend, some acrylics, canvases, brushes and music playing we just let it happen.

 Let the fun begin, no pressure to preform, nothing forced, just a relaxing time of chatting and painting. We all need that right? Especially during the stress of the holidays. Give yourself an early gift, take a day and play.

Day 12- Wonderful Watercolors are blooming in my Garden

Fall just screams out yellows and oranges and the cooler weather reminds us summer is over. During the heat of those long summer days my nasturtiums struggled along, blooming but not happy. Reminds me of myself sometimes, struggling to bloom when the heat is on! I could tell they were struggling, I nursed them through those hottest days to find them going crazy in this cooler weather? While other things are getting ready to go to sleep my Nasturtiums got a second wind and are blooming up a storm. I know once the frost hits they might be gone but for now I am loving the blooms which add so much color to salads, pasta and paintings! What is blooming in your garden right now? Thankful for Flowers

Original, signed Watercolor Available 

9"x7" so it will fit into an 8"x10" frame with mat.

Nasturtiums in Fall  $55

Flowers from a Friend

Hi GF's, summer is going to come to an end I promise, are you all melting in this heat? Its been an unusually quiet summer for me socially so when I had a friend call me to go to lunch with her I was so excited to be able to have some girl time. She arrived baring gifts as she often does, always something special, Flowers from her garden, calendars from an artist she likes to support, bear claws from her favorite bakery, you just never know what she might bring. They never feel like last gifts minute either, they are always full of thought and effort, she has a the special gift of giving. Today was no exception as I see her coming up to my door with her hands filled with a box that was bursting with color. I could hardly contain myself as I recognized the delicate flower bunches sitting atop mounds of dark, fuzzy, thick leaves, an african violet! It warmed my heart since there is nothing better than being important to someone, of being thought about. It's this simple gesture of giving of ourselves that can make others feel so valued. My little African Violet is sitting on my kitchen counter, reminding me of her and making me smile. Do you have the gift of giving? Who will you make feel special today!

- Desiree

The Oasis

We went up to visit my mom and hook up her electricity. I hadn't been to "the valley" as it is called for over 4 years. I won't bore you with the reasons, none seem good enough to have stayed away so long. Both my mother and my youngest brother live there. My brother bought a piece of property and created a home and successful business. My mom followed and helped him while she searched for a place of her own. She found a 5 acre parcel that overlooks the valley almost to the ocean. This is where she began building her dream.

My mother is talented in more ways than anyone I have ever known. You might think that I say this only because she is my mother. I am not alone, in fact, most people she meets feel this way about her. She is generous to a fault, and works harder than most people a 1/4 of her age. She never complains and her soul is fed through the satisfaction of her labor. One of the great loves in her life is gardening, flowers, roses, and design. She has worked most of her life in design. Making things beautiful is her greatest gift. She can turn the ugliest things into coveted treasures. She has a Midas touch and all of us consider ourselves golden to have her in our lives.

Our trip would take 12 hours, and the closer we got the more excited we all became. We drove through the central part of California, agricultural land, without much to look at. But as we start getting closer to her neck of the woods the hills start to green, the fauna and flora become richer and denser. The last 45 minutes consist of windy roads covered in oaks and bay laurel trees. The shadows lap over the road to create dark, mottled tunnels and then open up into sun drenched asphalt again. Our eyes struggle to adjust as we make our way around each turn. At dusk we have the added worry of darting deer which have been known to aim for passing cars. Their homes are in between Booneville and Philo. Both are small towns where if you blink you have missed most of it. We slow down as we make our way through the heart of Booneville passing, the senior center, elder center, fairground, general store, hotel, cafe, ice cream parlor, nursery then we can increase our speed as we pass miles of vineyards on each side of the road. Mountains surround us as we make our way through the valley that is being consumed by grapes. I recognize the white picket fence that is the vineyard next to my moms and brothers place. The sun is almost gone yet as we drive in there is just enough light left to see the explosion of color that awaits. It is like visiting a botanical garden, a retreat in all aspects of the word.

No matter how busy my mom is she always is the supreme hostess. The house is spotlessly clean, a fire is roaring in the fireplace and there is music playing. Each of our rooms has been lovingly prepared for us, clean sheets, warm feather down comforters and fresh flowers fill every room. Dinner is still hot and waiting for us even though it is 9:00pm. We can't wait to get out and get our hugs then to explore, see all the changes that have taken place since we were last there. The house is always warm and comfortable with her there. I love just having coffee with her in the mornings or ice cream at night. She loves to feed us well too, we all gain weight when we visit. No wonder I found that I was so tired the whole time I was there, my mom said I was just relaxed! I knew that I had been drugged with the food, wine, summer breeze and a mothers warmth.

The yard was full of flowers and gravel paths that both Jennifer and I spend many mornings exploring with mom. I often was so overwhelmed with things I should paint that I couldn't paint at all. Everywhere I turned there was something else that needed to be painted, an artists dream. I took almost two hundred pictures since they have decided to sell these dream parcels. The truth about living out a dream is it is often better in the dream than in the reality. Although the area is really beautiful it rains much of the year and country living is hard work. Running out of water, losing power, no emergency services, no shopping, no close neighbors makes it hard. My mom is tired and suffers from arthritis so she now wishes to live closer to her doctors and have less to care for. She told me this visit that no matter how hard she tries nature keeps taking back the land. Its so true, we struggle even in the city to keep out the weeds and there is a constant reminder that it is not really ours for long. If anyone was wondering where Randy is during all of this, well, we did have our walks but he worked much of the time. Doing moms electrical for her cottage. He told me to enjoy my time with her and I did! Here are some of my sketches while I was visiting in my moms Shangri-La, I will post the real photos on flickr for anyone interested. Such a wonderful week with my mom and family.