Easter Eggs

 It seems silly to continue Easter Egg Hunts with my children grown, but I can't help it. I absolutely love buying candy and making little eggs surprises. And looking at each year's pictures makes me realize my time is running out with them. 

Last Quilt Design Class

The last Design Essentials class was full of color. We were to create a design and show our understanding of color by doing 6 quilts in different colorways.

Monochromatic

Complementary

Triadic

Polychromatic

Analogous

Achromatic

Finally, we were to create a quilt from scratch and bring it in finished. The class agreed that the lowest row should be deleted. The diagonal lines threw off the composition.

Design Class exploring scale

Lorraine Torrence compares the value of each circle.

This is my interpretation of the Coonley Playhouse Windows by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The same construction using an analogous color scheme. However, I had no time to stitch the lines. I would love to recommend Pentel's Frixion pens. They lines are heat-sensitive and iron right out.

When we visited Phoenix last year, we visited a Frank Lloyd Wright house where they had reproduction Coonley Playhouse windows.

Desert Botanical Garden (with Chihuly)

Every Saguaro is unique. Some are upright.

Some are created by aliens.

Some are discovered by Willards.

And these beauties were created by Dale Chihuly.

These cacti are super pointy. But they are gorgeous!

This rebar work of art welcomes you to the Desert Botanical Gardens. Of course I whispered to Paul,

"We should have one of these."

Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West

A visit to Taliesin West was definitely in order. Just down the freeway to Scottdale, Frank Lloyd Wright's Foundation has purchased his Taliesin West home and created an Architecture School and gift shop. For days we had been driving very flat roads. And suddenly we were going up, up, up to the hills above the city. Development has begun to surround the property and the views were beautiful. These few pictures of famous stained glass works include the Coonley Playhouse windows. I was inspired to make a series of quilts based on the great design and color concepts.

Katie's Mission Call

 Katie's mission call arrived and she arranged to have Tyler on the phone so he could hear her open it. We have been enjoying Katie for all of 8 days since she arrived home from London study abroad. The Christmas tree is set up and the flurry of deadline quilting, Christmas concerts, and present wrapping is in full swing.

When she announced she would be serving in England London South, I fell off the piano bench. I was laughing so hysterically, Tyler probably couldn't hear at all.

She will report to the England MTC on April 22, 2011 and serve for 18 months.

Wool Quilt for Mom

 My friend Cathy introduced me to this wool & flannel quilt pattern and I was smitten. We each made one. However, I couldn't use much of anything in my stash. 

Since it was very thick, it was difficult to quilt on the machine. My mom loved it even though San Diego doesn't need a lot of wool. Nana grew up in the San Gabriel mountains and still feels cold in the winter months.