Somewhere over the rainbow...

We’ve been back a little less than a week and I still have not had time to get back into the textile studio. While traveling I did a good bit of hand work quilting with embroidery floss through all seven pieces from the series. I’m also adding a line of hand dyed silk through the series and I’ve got three of the seven of those sewn on. Beyond this point I don’t know what is next. It is an improvisational series, that is certain.

This is "Green" before quilting:

With some machine quilting and some hand work plus the row of silk:

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This is "Blue" but I'm thinking of it more in terms of "Cyan." This is before quilting: This is what it looks like with machine and hand quilting plus the row of silk.
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This one is Indigo before:
After adding some pieces to make this piece the right size, plus some machine and hand quilting. (The top photo's colors are showing more true than the lower one.) This one also has the row of silk along the horizonal line.

I hope to get back to these soon but I don't get the hand work done very quickly when I'm at home. Being stuck in an auto for hours is the perfect time to do quilting, that or mid winter in front of the fire. But this time of year it just doesn't seem like the work I gravitate toward. It will come.

My Soap Rocks

"Jasper" hand carved soap rocks... as you use them the carved edges disappear and they look more and more like river rocks.

Independence Day Soap

My Independence Day collection of soap.
"Old Glory" is pure and simple apple pie. Yes indeed, it just doesn't get any better than that!
Some fresh sweet apple, a hint of floral and sweet almond in a combination of goat's milk and olive oil soap.
"July 4th" soap featuring fireworks of red apple, blue spice in sweet vanilla goat's milk soap.
Lapis clove spice with a sweet French vanilla center that makes for a sweet and spicy “Shenandoah Moon.”

Traveling Home Again

We made a trip to the midwest to enjoy friends and family and I enjoyed taking photos out of the car's windows. Here are a few:
The wild fog shrouded mountains of West Virginia.
The mountains give way to the flat lands of Ohio though you can still spot some small rolling hills in the distance.
But when you get to Indiana, it's really just flat for miles. This is big sky country out here, which is just so unlike my Virginia home. I really do like the wide open places.
A little taste of small town U.S. heartland, I'm guessing that this is in Ohio somewhere. It always looks the same, each time we drive by.
Cool sky, though I don't know where we were when I took this photo.
This was early evening in Indiana, a mild thunderstorm. I was standing out in the rain with my flip cam hoping for some big lightening or bold crashes but got nothing. (except a little wet)

I started playing "tourist" on the way to our friend's home, taking photos of the Amish buggies.
This one is a convertable buggy? LOL!
A little extra peace and quiet, just for you.
There is something about these big monster tower type thingis that fascinates me.
Such clean lines, symmetrical, orderly... which is strange because I think symmetry is a cop out. An artist can use balance without needing to rely on symmetry... but the lines on these things are cool. And on the road home, we passed through the mountains of West Virginia once more.

Our drive home was a long one but very beautiful!

It was a lovely trip, full of great food and connecting with dear friends. It was good for the soul! Yes indeed, nothing like some beauty, great food and excellent friends. Just nothing like it.

Wild Orchids and Flowers

We recently got a little flip cam and I took it along on a walk in the woods a while back. I'm not very good at using it but here are a few highlights from our adventure. Mr Wild Man and I go way back and he gives wild orchid tours. It was a lovely morning being shown around the forest meeting the lovely flowers of the wild wood. Here are some pink lady slippers:



And some putty root orchids:


And some pink mountain laurel:


Maybe I'll get the hang of this sometime. Right now it's like being on a roller coster ride to watch any of these and the quality isn't great.

New Business Card Design

In the process of working on a printing project for my congregation I decided new business cards were in order. I'm almost out of the old ones and it's such an easy way to point people to my website or blog. So I played around with it for a few minutes and see what you think, I removed the phone number before I posted cause let's face it - I hate phones and I can barely stand that it has to be printed to begin with, let alone putting it out there on the net. The card matches my website, so that's cool. They should be here shortly.

Lovely photos

I sell soap on Saturday mornings at the Farmer’s Market. My lovely friend Paula Delaney blogged about her visit to the Farmer’s Market here. She's got some lovely photos of produce, one of those dogs that's the size of a small horse and me selling soap.