Inchie Ornaments

I'm participating in a Christmas Swap of Inchie Ornaments sponsored by Quilting Gallery and Inchie Quilts.  The swap is closed, but if you're interested in learning to make the ornaments, there is a tutorial here.  And here are my ornaments:

Imaginary Trip Through Autumn

I started a new online class today - An Imaginary Trip Through Autumn, taught by Laure Ferlita.  I am going to be learning to paint with watercolors.  Most of my art journaling has been done with watercolor pencils, so this is new to me.  But I think I'm really going to like it.  And here is the cover of the little journal I started for class.

Stars of the Southwest

I finished this quilt today.  I started it at a retreat about 3 1/2 years ago, and then put it away for quite awhile.  I posted about it here.  The pattern was called Diamond in the Rough, but I think it looks more like stars, so I named my quilt Stars of the Southwest.  It always feels good to finish a project.

Thank You Postcard

I sent this postcard to my friend Anne Gaal.  She had an extra memory card that she couldn't use and she very kindly sent it to me.  I also received one of her cards from a weekly giveaway she was doing.  And besides that, she's a very nice and generous person, so I wanted her to know that I appreciated her and her friendship.

I know I can post it now because she let me know today that she got it yesterday (sometimes the mail is very slow, but I'm glad it got to her and didn't get "lost in the mail").  I enjoyed making it for her, and I'm glad she liked it!

Fish Art Journal Entry

Snow in Minneapolis

I've told this story to a few people and I realized that I wanted to remember it, so it seemed like it would make a good journal page.

Two Art Journal Pages

I actually finished up two journal pages yesterday!

Honey Crisp Apple

My newest journal page.

Art Journal

Here is the cover of the journal I made in Roz Stendahl's class.

Fall Journal Page

This is the first page in the journal I made in the class I took from Roz Stendahl; the paper took the watercolor pencil just fine, even though it's a lighter weight paper than most watercolor paper.  I don't think I could use LOTS of water, but I don't usually use lots of water anyway.  And it's wonderful working in such a nice book that I made myself.  Now I just need to make a label for the cover.

Making Books

We are in Minneapolis, visiting our son and daughter-in-law. We drove most of the way up on Thursday and finished the drive on Friday. On Saturday, I took a class from Roz Stendahl at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, where I made a beautiful journal with a round back spine binding. I learned a lot, and Roz is an excellent teacher. Plus I love my new little journal. I will post a picture of it soon, I promise, but probably not until we return home (which will be Thursday). Wednesday evening, I'm taking Coptic Binding: Focus on Stitching from Sue Bjerke, also at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

The most amazing coincidence - after Roz took roll, first names only, "John" came over to me and said "You're Cheryl Gebhart, aren't you?". I said yes, but clearly didn't recognize him. He is John Payne, from my Love This Journal class and yahoo group. Neither of us knew that the other was coming to the class. It was so fun to meet in person, after knowing each other online for almost 2 years now. I also met his wife, who joined him for lunch, and is a quilter.

Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian

This is the very compelling story of a rural German family near the end of World War II. They evacuate their home before the Russians invade and face many hardships along the way. It was very thought provoking, raising such questions as how much did the average German citizen know about what the Nazis were doing and what could they have done about it. This would be an excellent book to read in a book club where these questions and many others could be discussed. I rate this book 4 out of 5; the only reason I didn't rate it a 5 was I didn't always care for the writing style, and sometimes the dialogue seemed stilted to me. But I really liked the book anyway.

What You Can Do

I had never heard this particular quote before, but I know I had to use it as soon as I saw it today.

Two for One (Quotes)

After finishing the first quote, I had enough room for a second. They don't really relate to each other, except that I like them both.

Of course, since I'm writing out quotes from other people, I guess it could be argued that I'm not really thinking for myself. The second one reminds me of "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" but a little more elegantly put in my opinion.

During our Darkest Moments

My latest quote.

Inferior

I saw this quote on Fannie Narte's blog today and had to use it for my quote of the day - thanks Fannie!

New Wordle

Awards

You know how one thing leads to another, especially on the internet? While visiting a friend's blog yesterday, I happened upon a link to this post. I could really relate to her comments, so I've decided to join in her little revolution.



I would encourage you to go to the post where Vikki explains herself, but the basic premise is that blog awards have become chain letters.

The Outlandish Companion by Diana Gabaldon

This is a great book, but really not the sort of book you read from start to finish. It has summaries of the first four books in the Outlander series, lists of all the characters and who they are, information about how the author goes about writing her books, her theory on time travel, and lots of other fun information. Because her new book is going to be released soon, and it's been awhile since I read the first six, I wanted to refresh my memory on the story up to now. So I've read the summaries and various other parts of the book, but not all of it. I'll probably come back to it and read more in the future, but I'm through with it for now. I recommend it for anyone who loves the Outlander books. I rate the book 5 out of 5.

Autumn

The blob in the lower left hand corner was supposed to be a leaf, which didn't quite turn out like it was supposed to. But it is just a journal post, after all.

Autumn Mums

My quilt guild is having a home tour next month, and I've been going through my quilts to decide what to enter. I realized I never posted this quilt to my blog. I finished it last December. I really had fun making it - it is all fused, no piecing at all. A new way to make a quilt for me. It is from a pattern by Frieda Anderson, and I used her hand dyed fabrics as well.

Constitution

Another tribute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy:



I want to mention again that I learned this style of lettering from Martha Lever in her fabulous class, Calligra-fun. Martha is a very talented artist and a great teacher. As I continue to practice, I'm beginning to see a bit of my own style emerge; it's exciting!

Martha is in the process of filming her next class: Italic Calligraphy - The Right Foundation. If it's anything like Calligra-fun, it will be a great class. I'm going to take it; why don't you join me? It should be ready sometime in November.

Memory

Integrity

One of many wonderful quotes by Senator Edward M. Kennedy:

More Calligra-Fun

I love quotes as well as lettering, so I added a quote of the day to my blog (over in the right-hand column), and I'm going to try to put a quote into my journal most days (I won't say every day because I know that's unrealistic).

Anyway, here is the one I did yesterday:





And here is the one I did today:





I had painted the background back when I took Visual Journalism from Pam Carriker. I have a few more pages painted, but now it looks like I need to get busy and paint up some more.

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

This is the story of Katherine of Aragon, first wife of King Henry VIII of England. Prior to reading this book, about all I know of Katherine was that Anne Boleyn took her place. But she was a fascinating woman - very strong through many hardships and trials throughout her life. It was a very enjoyable read. I enjoyed it as much or more than The Other Boleyn Girl, by the same author, which I read first. I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Quote from Ahab's Wife

My son is a writer, and I am a quilter. So this quote from Ahab's Wife is really meaningful to me (the book is a fictional memoir - my review of it is in my previous post):

"While my quill was poised in the air, not writing, I formed my first principle as a storyteller. I will not be governed by time. Time does not march; it swirls and leaps. Time is a dancer, not a soldier. And the second: Adherence to fact is slavery. Think how Shakespeare distorted, compressed, rearranged historical events in his history plays. Such license would be mine, if I wrote. When I pieced a quilt, I did not place the pieces in chronological order, the oldest in the upper-left-hand corner! A pleasing design, color, beauty -- could those be my business?"

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

I really liked this book. On the front cover is a quote from the LA Times: "Beautifully written. Lyrical . . ." and I agree. I can't ever put my finger on what makes the writing "lyrical," but this qualifies. It is the story of Una, the wife of the famous whaler, Ahab, from Moby Dick. I have never read Moby Dick and had only the most basic outline of that story in my head, but you don't need even that to enjoy this book. Una (the narrator of the story) lead a very interesting life, first in Kentucky, then on an island with her aunt and uncle, who are the lighthouse keepers, then dressing as a boy and going to sea. Some of the characters of Moby Dick are here (which I learned by reading a synopsis on Wikipedia after I finished this book). I rate this book 5 out of 5.

Land of Lost Luggage

I have been taking a class from Julie Prichard of The Land of Lost Luggage, called Layer Love. It's a great class. She is offering a couple of new classes that sound really interesting. Supernova Part 1 is three new bookbinding methods, and Supernova Part 2 is an Art Journaling class. You can read about the classes here. I'm quite sure that both classes will be great!

Zentangle

I have a new obsession - Zentangles. Basically, it is like doodling, but with intention. It looks much harder than it is. I made myself a little book, just for my zentangles. It is 6 inches square, made from Strathmore Bristol smooth paper, bound with my bind-it-all. I made it this size so that I could put a CD envelope in the back with an old CD to trace around to make circles. Also in that envelope is a piece of chipboard that I cut into a 4 inch square and rounded the corners. So those are what I use to start my zentangles. I use a pencil to divide my circle or square into sections, and then I put a pattern into each section. I'm using a size 01 Micron pigma pen. It's very relaxing. You can read more about these at the zentangle official website, or do a google search for them. One of my favorite sites is Sandy Bartholomew's blog, Beez in the Belfry. She posts patterns once a week with instructions on how to draw them. And the Zentangle site has a newsletter where they give new patterns. You can subscribe to the newsletters, and all of their old newsletters are archived.