Painting Class - On Fabric

I took a Craftsy class from Annette Kennedy to find out how to use the Tsukeniko and Pebeo fabric paints that I have accumulated and been frustrated with.  These two quilts are her design - she is a fantastic teacher, and internet classes are the way to go.  The painting is done on pre-printed fabrics - mostly batiks.  (Be sure to enlarge these.)  The quilt sizes are about 13" x 9", and I also did the quilting.  Facings finish the quilt, rather than binding.  Loved doing these.
P.S.  Which of these do you like better?

Memory Quilt #1 is finished!

I am very happy to say that the quilt is faced, has a sleeve for hanging, and is ready to display!  This quilt was so much fun to make - What will be my next project?

Father's Day-Mother's Day Flowers

 Daughters Dorothy and Sara sent these beautiful flowers for Father's Day, and a late Mother's Day.  We do love having flowers in the house to enjoy, and these were especially beautiful.  Thanks again!

 And, this beautiful African violet is giving its' all these days.  The plant had nearly died and had a two-inch stem above the roots when I transplanted it in some of the new wonderful potting soil that is already fertilized.  The comeback of this plant is amazing.  Glad I didn't toss it out.

Progress on Memory Quilt #1 -

 Detail -

 Detail of the sky - Love this technique.

There is nothing like taking a picture of the - hopefully - finished project, to see where some corrections should be made.  How did the picture on the upper left get crooked, and I do not like the separation at the top of Grandpa's picture at the bottom of the left side.  Oh, well - just a few stitched to take out, readjust, and finish up.  (Rome wasn't built in a day.)

The Mysteries in Wood

 When Ron began turning this "blank" piece of wood, he had no idea what a treasure he would find as he progressed.  How exciting to find this perfect feather in the wood of the bowl - and not only is the feather showing on the outside of the bowl, but, as you can see in the bottom picture, it continues to the inside.  I'm just trying to find a way to display this marvel.  It is truly a beauty!  Be sure to enlarge the pictures.

Haying - The Old-Fashioned Way

This is my latest - and last literary effort for the memory quilt.  Comments accepted, but I'm not changing anything unless I spelled something wrong.  ;-)

 From 1949 to 1953, in the little valley of Penrose in northwestern Wyoming, my summers were spent helping Dad and my older brother, Dwight, doing various jobs on the farm. Hay was mowed, and then raked into windrows to dry in the sun. One of my chores was to drive the John Deere tractor with the haywagon and hayloader down the dried windrowed hay. My brother, Dwight stood on the wagon with his pitchfork and arranged the hay on the wagon evenly. (Occasionally, there was a water snake, which he might pitch my way.) When the wagon was full, we headed for the hay yards at Grandfather’s house; here was the large derrick, crafted from poles with the Jackson Fork on the end of a pulley system that would lift the hay from the wagon to the stack. It was the finest derrick I have ever seen made for a Jackson Fork (I have seen various versions of derricks in Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah, but I’ve never seen another as carefully made as this one. Logs were probably brought down from Pryor Mountain to the north, and I suppose that Grandfather and his two oldest sons made the derrick in the early 1900s.)  

  Now, my job was easy, as I watched while Dad climbed onto the full haywagon, Dwight picked up the reins of the team of horses, Pet and Babe, who were hitched to the pulley system for the Jackson Fork; Grandpa, in his 80th year in 1949, would insist on being on top of the hay stack. On command, Dwight would lead the team forward far enough to lift the heavy four-tined Jackson Fork from the ground onto the wagon load of hay.  Dad would push the tines into the hay, and fasten it closed, then give the signal to Dwight to lead the horses forward to lift the hay to the top of the haystack, where Grandfather would direct it with his pitchfork so that Dad could pull the trip rope and drop the hay in place. (Sometimes, we all held our collective breaths as Grandfather eluded the dropping hay.) Then, the team would go forward again, bringing the Jackson Fork up and back to the wagon.  It was a coordinated, cooperative effort between the men, horses, and the pulley system with the big fork. When the wagon was entirely unloaded, and the last hay swept off, the team was ready to be released from their job, and it was my job to lead them to the irrigation ditch for a drink of water. They were much bigger than I was, and I was glad when they finished.  

Story for Quilt

Changed my mind - at Louise's urging, I re-wrote the story, and will post it at a later date.