van gogh

On the 118th anniversary of his death, I think enough has been written about Vincent Van Gogh's troubled life. What about his wonderful art? Beyond the sickening prices paid for his work, I think he was so far away from what was being painted at the time, countless artists from then to now have copied his style. His use of color and paint is unmatched, except maybe by Claude Monet. Van Gogh is a painter's painter, when you look at his work, you don't think it's a photo or a fresco or anything else, but a beautiful creation in paint. I had the great opportunity to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, so many beauties there! He by far, one of my favorite painters..

IF

"Farewell" oil and pencil on canvas, 20x24"...

blue and white

I made this quilt for my mom some time ago, when I was really doing a lot of traditional block quilts. I still love the blue and white color choice. With one rogue tulip block in there! Or is that a Carolina lily?? Can't remember... I hand quilted and hand sewed the whole kit and kaboodle.. it's twin size.. It was a lot of stitches!

here to there

July is not the greatest month in Va, we have scorching heat and humidity. I hang out on the porch in the morning, then as the sun chases me back to the deck in the evening.. the humming birds don't seem to mind, they go go go.. still hanging in there, sweet peas, daisies and lilies..

Memorial Day quilt

Our town is a big Civil War town..
We have a luminary on Memorial Day, at our Civil War cemetery, and each year the scouts put out the bags and candles. Something like 5,000 candles are put out. It's an awesome sight, all lit up for one night. I went out and took a few pictures while the set up was going on. My photo is above, and the quilt made from it, is above it. "Memorial Day Luminaria" is 46x38" and all hand and machine appliqued, sewn, embellished and quilted (still quilting it a bit..). I layered the fabrics, rather than piece them, and then sewed down the larger pieces. Then went back in with thread and floss to embellish. I found a cool flag print at Joann's and fussy cut the flags to applique on.

summer garden

My garden in July and August explodes and overwhelms. The vines, flowers and plants go into overdrive and soar up, up, up. The soft roses and sweetpeas from May are long gone, and now the perenials take over. Honeysuckle, shasta daisies and gladiolus go bonkers. I just stand back (sit if I can clear a space!) and take a few pictures..

summer

After a mind bending trip to CA to visit my parents, we are back to the top of the summer time form. Here's a wall hanging quilt, hollyhocks, dragon flies and summer stars, all summer touchstones around here.
hand and machine pieced, appliqued and quilted 30x30..

a small blogging break

To catch up on some reading, quilting and summer-timing...be back soon!