After my class yesterday, Joe and I met up with our oldest son, Stephen, our DIL, Aimee, and our grandson, Jack. The goal? Introduce Jack to a pumpkin field. The sun was shining bright, the wind was blowing, but here are some lovely autumn images to treasure:
Joe and I thoroughly enjoyed this outing!! Being a grandparent is the best!!
Hugs, Carla
I finished the bargello heart quilt for a friend a few days ago. I took some quick pictures before it went home. It is hard to see the stitching due to the lighting, but here you go:
Next up is a 3-D pinwheel quilt. I’ve lost count on how many of these I have quilted. I want to make one for Jack. Other quilt news, the Gold Bug Quilters Show is later this week.
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I’ve been promising updated Jack pics, so here he is now at 8 months. He crawls, stands up, and loves to explore. In the first picture he is checking out his new car seat:
More Woody the Redneck contractor stories as he is coming back to actually work today! I’ll be sure to keep track of all his “Woody-isms” and share with you. By the way, I told Woody I write about him on my blog and he thinks it is funny.
Yesterday, I received unsolicited firearm lessons from Woody on how to “address” an intruder if one breaks into my house. He even demonstrated where to position my body so I don’t miss. Where else can you get construction work plus practical safety information?? LOL
Enjoy your day! Carla
My first 5-6 weeks have been all about learning tools and practicing. Here are more class work samples so you can see what I’m learning. And yes, by the end of class I will actually make something out of these:
The diva shape was made by sawing out the shape from a block of acrylic (called a matrix die), then texturing the metal and last step is to press the die on a hydraulic press to form the metal.
The leaves were made by creating the shape out of copper wire, then pressing pieces of textured metal. You texture the metal with a metal press.
The middle diva is not textured and other two are. I haven’t decided what I will do with them- perhaps embellish it further and create a pin.
Yesterday, we learned how to cut discs out of metal. The copper pieces were made using a special tool I borrowed from my friend Faith.
I have more, but this shows you what we are doing right now. I do need to solder a cabachon, but I want to find a cool enough piece to use.
I have my semester “to-do” list. I am required to make at least 4 pieces using a dozen or more techiniques. So far, I have plans to create at least 8 projects… at least that is my goal.
Later this week, I’ll visit Faith at her studio and work together on some projects. That should be fun.
Keep watching… almost finished with the heart quilt, and Faith loaned me a funny book to share with you all. Today, the kids and baby Jack are coming over, too, so it is time to update my Jack picture, too.
Happy Sunday! Carla
Joe and I babysat Jack last night, and here he is crawling around on my quilt playing with toys:
and Yum!:
He is so blasted cute!! Of course, I’m biased…
Onto artistic endeavors… Watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night. The Chinese govt. really did a wonderful job on the show. Spectacular even. Shame they wouldn’t put the same energy and emphasis on human rights and individual freedom….. just my political thought for the day.
Since I’ve been in a freeform mood lately, here is another crochet scarf- this one has a focal point flower on the front
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here is a closeup of the crochet:
That’s all from here…. life is quiet, which is a good thing.
take care, Carla
Thought I would take a moment to show you all the mundane and other random stuff from my life. First off, I received a lovely box full of thread a few days ago. I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing that makes a woman feel so good as receiving new thread!
Above is a sneak peek at the colors in my new quilt that I made with Barbara Kiehn. I will load this quilt this week and I figure it may take a hundred + hours to complete.
While I was in my studio, here’s a picture for my friend, Marge, who wants to take the photoshop Digital Imaging class that I took so long ago at a local college. This assignment was to create a magazine ad called “Diesel:”
The grade on the back says I received an “A” from my instructor. Everything in the ad was created in photoshop (bottle, shadow, metal surfaces, etc.) except the blurry diesel truck images blurred in the background. Marge, take this class, you won’t be sorry!
We saw Jack TWICE this week, his new favorite play toy is a plastic straw:
He is lunging for me wanting to be held more and more. Of course, this melts my heart EVERY time!
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Warning for all my vegetarian friends, don’t scroll down!
Last but not least is the smoker I purchases for Joe. He has been experimenting- with various levels of success. The first one wasn’t smoked enough and needed some sauce, the second had too much. After watching Bobby Flay of the Food Network, he now knows what step he was leaving out. Here is is third attempt waiting to be placed inside the smoker:
Since I just started the South Beach Diet, I won’t be eating the above ribs, but for me Joe is smoking a tenderloin. Speaking of diet, I really need to take off 20 lbs, how did those get there?? I’ll keep you posted from time to time about my goal, anyone want to diet with me??
Thanks again for all the congrats to Molly and I for the terrific win at the state fair. I’ve now talked Molly into a quick retreat up to her beautiful vacation home at Lake Tahoe in a month. Molly is a lot of fun, and the last time we did this, I converted her to 1) buying an ipod; and , 2) listening to country music!!
Enjoy YOUR day!!! Hugs, Carla
Once a month, I try to remember to load some pictures of Jack to show off to relatives and friends. He is now officially 6 months and his personality shows through on this first picture:
I took the above picture during a game of raspberries- it is obvious he won! LOL Here are 3 others I took on Sunday during a visit:
The highlight of the visit was when Jack held his arms out to me and lunged forward! My heart melted on the spot!! He brings so much joy to Joe and I!
I’ll share the finished applique quilt tomorrow and also the next quilt I’m doing for a friend. Tonight is the monthly quilt guild meeting, so I also need to get my quilt show entries in order to turn in.
Hugs, from Carla
This post is for all the friends, family and lovely blog readers who are following my joy with my first grandson, Jack. Here are a cross section of recent Jack images:
And my favorite funny one:
Hmmm… how many adults are that flexible? LOL! He is just so blasted cute to see in person.
Tomorrow is traveling day. Thanks to Mae, who is house and pet sitting for me during my trip to visit my dad. I will most likely blog a few times during my stay, I’m bringing my iphone with me. I also downloaded from itunes a few movies to watch on my trip, plus a bunch of TV shows to keep me busy on the flights.
Hugs, Carla
Just have to sneak in an update on Jack for all the relatives and friends who wish to see how he is growing. He is so blasted cute, but of course I am just a wee bit biased. 🙂
Floor Time at Grandma & Grandpa’s:
I think Jack liked my rug:
He is rolling back and forth now. Soon he will be crawling, I’m going to have to baby-proof our house before then.
Busy day- today is DD Amy’s hearing aide check up. Of course, I have to make side trips to the art store, the bead shop, and also the thrift store looking for collage and art goodies. Tonight is fair entry pick-up, between 4-8 pm. I had some family visiting, so now the house feels more empty. I’m in a creative mode, so I expect to have lots to share this week!
Babysat the little guy this weekend! He was a bit fussy, but we just assumed he was teething, especially since he loved to gnaw on your knuckles, plus the cool teething ring. Of course, Grandpa got a diaper overflow on his clothes, which was pretty funny. Payback was when Jack sprayed me though during the clean up and diaper change. LOL!
His cheeks have filled out a bit:
Plus he can roll over now:
Anyhow, we had a good time, he is just so cute!
Today I finished Molly’s quilt, which was a cute little boy quilt for a friend, and we are planning on a show quilt or two for the future. I love collaborating with my former customers-turned-friends. The last quilt we did together ended up doing very well at the CA State Fair. That reminds me, that fancy log cabin quilt I quilted a few weeks ago? It is being entered into the State Fair by Molly, so I will let you know how it does after the judging.
That’s it for today… I’m busy finishing the binding on that poppy quilt. Hugs, Carla
The best Mother’s Day present today was seeing Jack!! Here are some current Jack pictures for all my relatives and friends:
and here’s my Mother’s Day card from Jack (with a little help from his mother):
Anyhow, thanks to Stephen and Aimee for making my day by bringing Jack by for a visit!
Hope your day was special, too! Regards, Carla
Carla Barrett 