If you have to run errands, take time to smell the roses on the way. This photo is for Jacquie, with a detail below:

At Portland Architectural Salvage I saw this fireplace piece with the owl andirons and had to take a picture for Jacquie, who loves owls! (Waving over to Vermont!)

OR, in the case of doctor’s appointments in far-away cities, do fun stuff!   Last Monday I had to drive to Brunswick (75 minutes) for a 20 minute appointment.  But it is right near Freeport, home to L.L. Bean.  So I did some Christmas shopping and thanks to MANY credit card points, got a couple great bargains.  The next day, I had another longer drive:  nearly 2 hours each way to Portland for a final check-up on my feet (a year ago I had arthritis in my big toe joints removed and can now bend my feet again!).   So I visited Portland Architectural Salvage, Micucci’s Grocery, the Old Port Specialty Tile store and the Portland Museum of Art, and finally Whole Foods (the Key Lime cheesecake is awesome).

Jacquie: isn’t this a fine owl! He looks a lot like my sketch that I posted a few days ago.

There weren’t any great deals at the Salvage shop; it has clearly been discovered by the young 20-somethings fixing up their cool downtown Portland apartments and condos!  But there was plenty of free inspiration.   I just LOVED looking at the lines of doors stacked up and the abstract strata design in this close up:

Love the patterning in the peeling paint on these doors.

There were several ogival panels, too, that I am guessing came from a church.  What awesome quilting or applique designs these would make:

There were several of these panels (which I think cost about $400 each!). This is a perfect example of my fill-the-space exercise in my quilting designs class!

And more inspiration in the form of old heat registers:  you know how we have ugly rectangles with straight lines through which dry air blows heat at us?  Well, a century ago those openings for the heat to reach you were much more interesting:

An old heat register. This would actually make a cool “window” in a garden gate, or in a custom door with an arched top, wouldn’t it?  All that rasty old paint would need to get stripped off, but what a beautiful design!

Next I went to find Micucci’s, an Italian grocery that also wholesales gourmet foods to various places around the state, including Megunticook Market in Camden where Joshua works in catering.  I found a jar of chestnuts, torrona, and other delectables, and I also discovered the tile store was two doors away.  I had seen ads for this place, and OH MY.  Now, to win that lottery so I can re-do the bathrooms….

At the Old Port Specialty Tile store, I saw this mosaic by New Ravenna Tiles. I WANT. I want Want WANT!

Then before I went to Whole Foods on the way home (I call that place the hundred-dollar-a-bag store, my foot doc says locally it is called Whole Paycheck, but my they have good food and stuff you can’t find unless you order on the internet), I treated myself to visiting the PieceWork exhibit at Portland Museum of Art. I joined the museum when I signed up to visit the Winslow Homer house at Prout’s Neck, and I promise I WILL share pics from that visit a while back.  I was beyond thrilled to see at least EIGHT textile works of art as well as several mixed media.

I first saw this installation piece—it is easily 9 feet tall and much wider–at a gallery in nearby Belfast, Maine.  I was thrilled it made the cut for the biennial exhibit, which is of works by people living in or with other significant ties to Maine.

Library by Abbie Read

The signage for the mixed media work above

You could spend an hour or more poring over the artworks within the artworks.  I kept taking pictures, fascinated by the materials and messages.  Here is just one of the detail photos:

Detail from Abbie Read’s Library.  I love the start chart with which she has lined the box, the carefully cut twig and the niche she has created within the box.

I left SO inspired…all I wanted to do was head to my studio!

And a slide from my Adult Ed class on the Native Peoples of Maine, the Wabanaki, looking at how they lived both before and after the arrival of Europeans in the early 1600s.

So you can see, I am VERY BUSY.  Can someone please find me another 27 hours a day so I can make some art??????

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!

We’re celebrating the release of my video workshop with one final GRAND finale including this DVD and the loot below!

WOW!  What a wonderful tour of art and the world we’ve been on with both the September/October and November/December bloghops and giveaways!  Thank you so much to Quilting Arts and Interweave for sponsoring this with DVDs and downloads, Mistyfuse for their wonderful products that I use to make my art, and Havel‘s for great scissors.  And ENORMOUS thank yous to my intrepid reviewers who helped make this bloghop possible:  Jamie, Deborah, Vicki, Leslie, Terry, Gloria, Diane, Marie, Brenda, Jaye, Susan, Daphne and Lisa:  THANK YOU!

The December Grand Prize Giveaway includes Two packages of Mistyfuse, a package of Transdoodle (all thanks to Mistyfuse), a Bag of scissors, snips and seam ripper from Havel’s PLUS non-stick scissors, the October issue of Quilting Arts with my article on What a Difference a Background Makes, and the 2010-11 Quilting Arts Gifts issue with my project and many other still wonderful gift ideas!

Yep–if you would like a chance to win

• A copy of the DVD!
• A selection of products from MistyFuse! I show you how I use these products in the Video workshop.
• A huge donation from Havel’s Scissors including a generous giftbag that includes long scissors, short scissors, snips, seam ripper, AND the non-stick scissors too!
• And a copy of Quilting Arts Gifts magazine from 2010-11, with a project by me! and a copy of the October Quilting Arts magazine with my article on what a difference the background Makes.

all in time for a nice long winter (or summer depending on your location in the world), here’s what you need to know and do:

• Leave me a comment and tell me something about the bloghopper-reviewer  whose work most influenced you in this bloghop–the work of one of the reviewers.  I’ll include links to all their blogs at the end of this post.
• On December 10th, I’ll select a winner. Please leave comments by 8 a.m. East Coast US time.
• I will pay flat rate shipping within the US.  If you live outside the US, you may enter IF you are willing to help me with the added cost of shipping outside the US. (Probably between $10-15)

So let the fun begin!   Comment away, and return to visit one of these fine artists (or ALL OF THEM!) and enjoy their art and thank them for participating.

And remember, you can always order the DVD from me (here) or a download or DVD directly from Quilting Arts/Interweave, here.

Jamie, Deborah, Vicki, Leslie, Terry, Gloria, Diane, Marie, Brenda, Jaye, Susan, Daphne and Lisa:  THANK YOU!

Jamie Fingal      http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/
Deborah Boschert    http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/
Vicki Welsh    http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/
Leslie Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/
Terry Grant   http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/
Gloria Hansen    http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/
Diane Perin Hock    http://goingtopieces.blogspot.com/
Marie Johansen   http://www.musingcrowdesigns.com/
Brenda Gael Smith   http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/
Jaye Lapachet    http://artquiltmaker.com/blog/
Susan Brubaker Knapp   http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
Daphne Greig   http://daphnegreig.blogspot.com/
Lisa Walton    http://www.fibreinspirations.blogspot.com/

As with many of the participants in this bloghop, I first met Daphne Greig online (through the QuiltArt list tho it has been so long now I forget!).  She lives in one of the most beautiful places on the planet:  Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, and it shows in her work.  Thank you, Daphne, for being part of the final Holiday Giveaway to celebrate the release of my video workshop, Art Quilt Design From Photo to Threadwork!  You can see her review of the video workshop here.

To order a DVD, visit my Store page here.

Or to order either the DVD or a digital download, visit Quilting Arts’ Interweave Store, here    and see all my products there here.  And, of course, you can enter the various giveaways thanks to the generous quilt artists who are helping me give away copies!

Blue Ocean, Turquoise Sea, by Daphne Greig. It is no surprise that I love this quilt–the colors are SO me, but they are also so representative of the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada.

Daphne’s work ranges widely from pictorial, to applique, to pieced, to abstract!  She has an astonishing five (yes, 5!!!) books to her credit, and she still finds time to make art and teach!  I’m tired just thinking about it! You can find her books and patterns for sale here (and <blush> thank you for including my book on your sale page, Daphne!).  Daphne’s most recent book, Give and Take Applique, also has a companion DVD to help you create a class right in your own home!

Daphne’s Give and Take bundle with the book, DVD and supplies!

I’ve had the good fortune to run into Daphne several times at various shows where we have both been teaching.  Ironically, although I used to live less than 40 miles from her as the crow flies when we lived in Friday Harbor, Washington, and I had “met” her online, I didn’t actually meet her in person until after I moved to Maine!

Daphne also has a book on stained glass window quilts. The two on the top left look so much like the lush gardens you find on Vancouver Island!

And of course, anyone who has ever lived in or visited the Pacific Northwest can’t help but love the enormous cedar and fir trees that define the region.  Daphne captured it perfectly here:

Daphne Greig’s “Looking West.”

I love quilts that incorporate traditional with contemporary, as with the on-point squares that create the beautifully backlit sky and sea in this piece.

And what tour of the West Coast would be complete without Kelp!

Daphne Greig’s Kelp I. Aren’t the beads PERFECT?

So please surf on over to Daphne’s website, here, and leave a comment to win a video download of my video workshop, Art Quilt Design From Photo to Threadwork.

THANK YOU so much, Daphne, for being part of this giveaway!

Next up is Lisa Walton of Australia, then the final grand giveaway will happen right here!

I just LOVE IT when I get to share the amazing work my friends make!   Today I get to introduce you (in case you haven’t already seen / met her) to Susan Brubaker Knapp of Blue Moon River Studios.  If you surf over to her website and blog, you have another chance to win a copy of my video workshop, Art Quilt Design From Photo to Threadwork (which you can also order, here).

My video workshop.

or to order either the DVD or a digital download, visit Quilting Arts’ Interweave Store, here. And, of course, you can enter the various giveaways thanks to the generous quilt artists who are helping me give away copies!

The first quilt of Susan’s that I saw was this one, and it took my breath away. I had recently “met” her online through the QuiltArt list. We share a similar approach and style, and have become friends and finally got to meet in person when teaching at the same venue. I always look forward to finding her at a show and getting caught up in person!

Susan’s background in graphic design is clear in her work.  She has such a strong sense of who she is as a quilter and artist. We share a love of the quilting, though most of Susan’s art quilts are now wholecloth painted, we approach the quilting and use of thread in a similar (though not identical) way.   I See The Moon was in the Dinner@8 exhibit in Houston a couple years ago:

I See the Moon, by Susan Brubaker Knapp

We also share being moms two two teens/young adults (hers are girls, mine are boys) and cats!  We have four (of every color so no matter what you wear the hair shows); not sure how many she has, but there are at least these two:

Susan Brubaker Knapp’s cat Maximum, in “Maximum Cat Nap.” Look at that fabulous fur!

I LOVE that one is named Trouble, hence “Trouble in the Pumpkin Patch!”

Trouble in the Pumpkin Patch by Susan Brubaker Knapp.

Susan is a great teacher, and now hosts–with Lyric Kinard– a retreat each Fall in her home state of North Carolina.  Please do visit her site and have an enjoyable browse.  Then if you can see her quilts in person…wonderful!

Thank you so much, Susan, for being my friend and for being part of this bloghop!  Remember to visit her site and her blog.