Well, I can tell I’ve been really busy when I realize how long it has been since I’ve blogged!   Maine’s Wrestling State tournaments were last weekend, and we are Class B. I am thrilled to say that Eli wrestled the best he has ever wrestled and came in Third!  AND–massively huge and loud DRUM ROLL Please!   The CAMDEN HILLS WRESTLING TEAM, well over half of which is Freshman and Sophomores (though Varsity is mostly Soph-Jr-Sr), WON STATES FOR THE THIRD TIME IN A ROW!   (and you betcha I’m shouting!) For such a young team to do so well is just amazing.  As usual, the rest of the state hates Camden, mostly because we keep winning.  Everyone said we couldn’t win last year, but they squeaked through with a 3-point victory.  This year it was a 24 point margin!   And for Eli to do so well as a Sophomore!   WOOT! More below…

Camden Hills Wrestling gets a THREE-Peat, winning Class B Maine State Wrestling Championship! Well done lady and gentlemen!

There has also been snow, more snow, more snow, and more snow coming.

The view heading out with the dog this morning, looking north.

And on the way back up the driveway. Our house faces north, facing the prevailing winds, so not much left on this side of the roof. It is hard because of drifts to guess how much snow we’ve got, but I’m guessing an average of about 18 inches. At least it is warm–we’re up to 30 degrees!

And I’ve been busy quilting, again, something I’m not at liberty to share until after jurying some time this summer.  Sigh.  It just pains me not to show in progress.  Maybe I’ll take a photo of a heap of pre-fused fabric just to be a wicked tease?  Anyway, here’s my week in pictures.

Eli pins a kid from Fryeburg (lovely town on the western border of the State) to get into the Consolation Finals (meaning he would place 3 or 4).

It seems all of us parents have good-luck things we do. I wear a C. Hills fleece vest to all his sports events, and I take photos of Eli warming up and getting ready for his next match. Most are totally worthy of being deleted–I just need to take the photo to have good juju! But here’s one of the kids and coaches on the sidelines (with the Belfast coach on the left).

Eli wrestled Belfast’s (neighboring town) Michael Mcfadden for 3rd/4th. Eli (and many of the rest of us) are pretty sure that he had Michael pinned, but the ref didn’t call it.

The customary shake before the ref raises Eli’s hand for the win. Still, Eli won by Major Decision (more than 8 points, I think final score was 15-4). Michael is a class act–told Eli he was glad his last high school match was against Eli. I didn’t get a chance to shake his hand at the meet so I Facebook messaged him (he and Eli are FB friends), to say congrats and he said the same thing to me. Let’s all wish Michael the best of life!

And on the podium–Eli doesn’t often smile this big even when he’s done well, so I’m really happy to see him SMILE!

As for the other part of the week: Shadows on snow this morning. I need to do some “Winter” quilts…. I just love the season! So crisp and bright and beautiful!

And the giggle moment, Pigwidgeon in snow after morning walkies. He could still walk it (not too deep, path not shoveled at the time), but definitely belly marks in the snow.

One of the things I love about winter is seeing critter tracks in the snow. Of course, these are likely mouse prints on our deck…which means we probably have at least one or a few additional residents. Hmmm…..

And more tracks on the snow heap in the corner between the kitchen/Eli’s bedroom and the master bedroom. I *think* they may be getting in the vent that is below the water spigot. Will deal with that in warmer weather!

Tomorrow we head off to All-States Wrestling Championship.  This is a first in Maine.  There are three “Classes” of schools (based mostly on size, though the logic of who is which class and how big the schools are and how a school can be Class A in one sport and Class B in another defies comprehension).  Some years, the top two or three in one class could easily beat the champion in another class.   But in the past the State Champion for each class would go to the New England Championships.  This year there will be a “king of the mountain” wrestle-off of the top four finishers in each weight class in all three classes.  Eli is a  long shot to qualify for New Englands, but it should be a good tournament with the best wrestlers in the state.  And on Friday, Eli finally gets WAFFLES for breakfast!  It’s been a long season without our Sunday treat!

And this week, that is definitely the priority order!   Last Saturday was Maine’s Eastern Regional Class B Wrestling Tournament, and this morning (I leave in an hour) is States!  Eli placed second last week, to a kid he beat at Eastern Regionals in 7th Grade (three years ago).  So today he is headed out to States with determination!  Eli was leading 7-3 until the last minute of the third period (three two-minute periods).  The other kid spotted an opening, took it, and won.  Bummers!   Eli handled it well, and we will see what happens today…I am VERY nervous, so send Eli “wrestle your best” thoughts please! He has worked SO HARD, that I would love  him to be able to meet his own and the coaches’ expectations!

Eli in the Finals at Maine’s 2014 Eastern Regional Wrestling Tournament

I’ve begun working on an entry for a juried invitational (where they set a theme, invite some folks to submit entries, and you hope you get in), but if I share, then I can’t enter.  So I can’t share.  And I have another good thing that happened, but can’t share that either!  AAAARGH!   So I’m really busy, happy, but must fight all natural impulses to share.

We had a couple recent snowstorms, were supposed to get one on Tuesday, then another one cropped up for tonight–predicting 10-16 inches!  On the one that ended yesterday it was supposed to be snow, sleet, snow, but it never turned back to snow.  So we ended up with about 6-8 inches of REALLY WET snow.  Luckily, Eli wanted to shovel it as training on the snow day from school (He told use we have used up the last of the school snow days, so if they have to have another, the school year will be extended!).

So that’s the news from Hope….stay tuned for today’s results.  One this is certain:  We will be and are proud of Eli!  Now, I need to eat breakfast, walk the dog, and then get on the road to Bath!

The drawing is now closed.  Drum roll please for Daphne Greig!

And the winner of the DVD is Daphne Greig, comment number 3!

And I’ve selected one more person to be eligible to win some of Diane’s fabric.  Each member of the bloghop is selecting a second comment, sending that name to Diane, and at the end of the week she will select a winner for the fabric.  That was comment 26:

The second drawing to be eligible to win some of Diane’s fabric.

NOTE:   The DRAWING is OVER and comments on this post are closed.  You can comment on other posts though!

Oh what FUN!  There is a reason why Diane Rusin Doran’s blog is called Ooh! Pretty Colors!  In her new Quilting Arts Video Workshop,  Digital Surface Design, Diane shows you how to make your own cloth digitally:  just think of it: all the beauty of hand-dyed fabrics, of hand-printed fabrics, in just the colors and designs you want, endlessly re-printable, and as she said in the conclusion, if you can click a mouse and move a slider on your computer, you can follow her clear instructions and create your own digital art cloth.  The download is available now at the Interweave Store, here, and the DVD will be available for order in a matter of days.  I’m thrilled she asked me to be part of her bloghop and giveaway.  Keep reading to find out how to win a free DVD!

Diane Rusin Doran’s new Quilting Arts Workshop: Digital Surface Designs

This workshop is all about creating your own digital art cloth.  Diane teaches you how to emulate traditional surface design, which she defines as the application or removal of color and pattern on cloth, with your computer.  You’ll need Photoshop Elements (software available for under $100), and can print your designs at home or by sending your files away to a fabric printing service. I will be downloading my copy onto my iPad (I have a download, not the DVD) so that I can watch on my iPad, pausing when necessary, and work alongside Diane on my laptop at the same time; you could do the same by watching the DVD on a TV and working on your computer.

I can’t recall when I first met Diane in person, but we’ve “known” each other online for years.  Several years ago I saw her Return of the Grackle quilt in person and was absolutely riveted:  it is quite large, 40×51 inches–I just wish you could see how stunning it is in person:

Return of the Grackle by Diane Rusin Doran

The video has five sections:

1.  Introduction (7 minutes)

Diane talks about what she will teach us, what supplies you need, and why you might want to do digital rather than traditional surface design.   Diane’s lessons build on each previous segment so that by the end you can create a layered composition, breaking what at first seems daunting into an easy step-by-step process.

2.  Digital Backgrounds for Hand-dyed Effects (20 minutes)

Diane teaches us how to make a softly mottled cloth using a photo of clouds in the sky, and how to simulate drip-dyed fabric by carefully showing step by step how (and where to find the correct thing to click) to navigate Photoshop Elements.  Diane used a PC with a newer version of Elements than I have, but it was easy to follow.  I plan to re-play the entire video and copy down the sequences step by step for various lessons in this video so I have them for handy reference when I go to play.  Familiarity with Photoshop Elements is helpful, but by no means necessary.

3.  Digital Patterning using Brushes (19 minutes)

I’ve played around with Elements a lot and learned quite a bit, but this DVD is way better than just stumbling across something:  it is  guided play.  I’d already discovered many of the things Diane teaches in the previous section, but this chapter was uncharted territory for me.  My brain started into high gear as soon as she mentioned re-sizing motifs at will and creating your own brushes to supplement the default ones in the software.  For example, I can carve a block traditionally, but then scan in a print and use Diane’s methods to re-size and print at various scales without laboriously re-carving the block (only to decide that wasn’t quite the right size).  So I can still get the hands-on that I crave, but with infinitely more possibilities.

4.  Designing with Layers  (15 minutes)

In the last major section, Diane then shows you  how to combine what you did in simulating hand dyeing and stamping stenciling to create layers of imagery and color on cloth.

5.  Gallery and Conclusion (7 minutes)

Finally, Diane shows us fabrics, and variations on the themes, printed from what she has taught us in the 3 teaching segments of the video.  Here are some of her printed fabrics (and part of her portion of the giveaway):

Win these fabrics made by Diane by commenting on blogs in this bloghop–see the link below.

Her favorite fabric is the one used on the cover of the DVD, which I first saw in a shirt she was wearing in November at International Quilt Festival:  yes, she printed it on a knit fabric and made a shirt out of it, and I love it!

Diane had her design printed onto fabric, then made this beautiful top!

Diane’s first QA Workshop, Digital Collage for Quilt Design, is now on its way to me.  I can’t wait to combine the two and work on a quilt…I have this photo of a rose……

I’ve already ordered Diane’s first video workshop…this new one has whet my desire to play!

So I invite you to join me in thinking how to combine traditional manual arts with the computer!

Here’s the schedule for the bloghop and giveaway.  Like Candy, on January 28th I will be drawing one name from those who comment on this post on my blog to win the DVD.  That means for the next nearly two weeks, you can visit ALL of these blogs and get FIVE chances to win a copy of this DVD.  I’ll also pick a SECOND   lucky person to be eligible to win a packet of Diane’s custom digitally designed cloth (see her blog to read about it); that drawing will take place on Diane’s blog!

• January 14 – Candy Glendening – visit Candy’s blog or the Interweave link to see a preview from the workshop.  http://www.candiedfabrics.com/journal/
• January 16 – Sarah Ann Smith – https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/ (you’re here now!)
• January 21 – Deborah Boschert – http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/
• January 24 – Susan Brubaker Knapp – http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
• January 28 – Diane Rusin Doran – http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/

And I’ll close with another fabulous quilt by Diane, California Dreaming:

Diane Rusin Doran, California Dreaming.  Printed on silk and just LOOK at that quilting!

Wow… I’ve certainly been AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave)!   That’s what happens when I get busy.  Between Eli’s wrestling, daily life, and working on a quilt for Joshua, I was appalled to see it has been over a week since I posted.  So I thought I’d share some photos from Houston’s Quilt Festival.  Though it was a while ago, I haven’t shared yet, and it is still good eye candy!

Since I’m thinking about beginning this coming year’s entry for the Dinner@8 exhibit, let’s focus on this year’s exhibit which was themed “An Exquisite Moment.”  I struggled to come up with a theme for Rituals, but so many ideas came for this theme:  childbirth, nursing, Eli peeking at me from under the highbush blueberry bush, munching away, the peaceful comfort of a cup of tea and a good book.  But when I remembered the night we heard the orcas sing, and because all four of us remembered that night, that had to be the quilt for me.

It always thrills me when someone likes what I have made enough that they take a picture. The blue quilt is my “Listen to the Song in the Night,” which I blogged about here.

I was doing much the same thing with several of the other pieces!  One of my favorites is by my friend Diane Perin Hock.  The feeling of tranquility and peace is palpable:

Diane Perin Hock’s “Serenity,” a portrait of the Adirondack chair under the tree at a quilt retreat fill me with calm. The colors, the calm…I love this!

And the same quilt in its “neighborhood.” The quilt to the immediate right is Fear of Flying by Judy Coates Perez. The next one over (turning on the ignition) is Speed by Cheryl Sleboda, while the passion flowers to the left of Diane’s are by  Frances Alford.

Two more friends: Deborah Boschert’s red branch is in the center and Rachel Parris’s feeding the chickens on the right.  I first met Rachel at a dinner of the artists (those who were at Festival) one year, and she is the most wonderful woman.  On the left is Jayne Larson’s Rainbow: A moment of reflection.  This year it was so much fun… I Facebooked my propped up feet at the airport on my way home, and Rachel promptly messaged me:  she was in the same terminal, so we got to have coffee together before we split to the corners of America!

I’m bummed that this photo isn’t in sharp focus, but I love Deborah’s quilt so much that I’m including it anyway. It is quintessentially “Deborah,” with her signature handwriting (this time on super-scale), branches, surface designs stamped and stenciled, but the colors are a-typical, giving it a wonderful freshness.

Rachel Parris grows as an artist every year. I totally adore this piece, “Ordinary Day.” It makes me think of our grandmothers’ time and lives, and love how Rachel used the writing on the apron.

Cynthia St. Charles dyes and does a lot of surface design.  For Winter Walk II, she has carved blocks for stamping as well as using thermofax screens.

Cynthia St. Charles, detail: Even in this photo it is hard to realize that she has stamped on many fabrics, collaged them, printed onto sheers, layered them…the piece is mesmerizing and is reinforcing my thnking that I really need to take more time to play, to dye fabric, to print and stamp and come up with my own cloth in addition to my signature tone-on-tone batiks.

I’ll close with a neighborhood shot of my quilt on one side of the Dinner at 8 display. I am so inspired by these women, and so pleased to be included in their company.

For more about the Dinner at 8 artists and exhibits, visit the Dinner@8 blog.  If you’d like a show catalog, you can purchase one here, printed by Blurb.  Thank you to Loris Bogue for taking the time to put this together again this year!

As I mentioned a short while ago, I’ve been ridiculously busy.   Between birthday (Joshua), Thanksgiving (all of us), wrestling (Eli and Paul), laundry, dog walkies, fundraising for the Cross Country and Track teams, follow-up doctor’s appointments in distant cities, it seems like the last month has evaporated.   I have managed to do some doodling (I *REFUSE* to call it zentangling, as I’ve been doing this sort of stuff since about 1973) and some sketching and visiting cool places in Portland, Maine…..  here’s a taste:

My decorated cat is my favorite new piece of noodling around. Our cat Tyger had an unfortunate incident and ended up with a short tail as pictured here. My friend Kathy said I should QUILT this…I’m thinking she is right!

I like the owl, sort of. The bottom tail feathers and feet are too dark compared to the rest, but I rather like his eyebrows and the blank spaces. Initially I thought I would fill him in completely like the cat, but I like the quiet spaces.

Both the cat and owl were done in my  new Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook which has 100-lb “plate” (very smooth) finish paper.  I used HEAVY black ink (Pitt permanent) and there is very little show through (you can see a bit from the reverse side on the cat page).   With regular sketch paper I wouldn’t be able to do ANYthing on the back side of the paper.  TOTALLY love this sketchbook and paper.  It is heavy enough for light water media, so I think this may become my sketchbook of choice.  They also have a plate finish in heavier paper, and the journals come wirebound and hardbound, ivory or white paper.  Nice!

Birds in Colored Pencil with Val Webb. Have been taking another online drawing course. I am learning a lot, including that I am not a fan of the waxiness of colored pencil. So for this lesson on black birds, I used graphite. Apart from the fact that I totally forgot that the spine/rib of a bird’s feather is *straight* (not rippled as I drew) I am pleased with my ability to get the proportions and value reasonably well done on this sketch.

And over Thanksgiving break, Max (younger brother of Eli’s wrestling coach) was home and came to chop down some trees.  Sigh.  This was a BEAUTIFUL tree.   Plopped right in the middle of the yard.   ????   Then, when we had to do some extensive ditching alongside the driveway to deal with water run-off, we discovered the previous owners planted this tree SMACK ON TOP of the power line to the house, which was about 24 inches below ground.  HELLO?   Can you say “root damage?”   Out there alone this tree could easily get toppled by a wind gust, ripping up the main power line to our house.   So down it came.  Ditto for the two trees the previous owners planted right on top of the power box and meter and the one tree right on top of the water wellhead.   WHAT were they thinking?  WERE they thinking?  They did so many things correctly (because the house is well-built and we love it) that it makes one wonder.

The 20+ foot spruce tree c omes down….

Since we feel like it is nearly criminal to cut down trees, we are sad.

I’ll share more about the trip to Portland in a post soon!  It involves old stuff and art!