I have exciting news! I have a new video to teach you how to make a Geranium Art Quilt. It is for sale for $24.95, starting tomorrow on this website! You may soon also buy it at The Quilting Season shop, in Saline, Michigan.

Geranium quilts have been my most popular quilts at shows. This video is an in depth lesson to make your own. It goes through the entire process, from how to choose and prepare fabric, cutting and placing your pieces, layering and fusing it all together, and quilting to show details and texture, and binding the edges. There are dozens of tips included to assure your success.

This project uses only simple free motion machine quilting skills. If you have basic knowledge, you can easily make this lovely art quilt.There are currently only 20 copies available, so act soon.

I made placemats for my sis, Connie. But I forgot to take a picture before I sealed the package. So I’ll show you the fabrics instead. These are for her Florida lanai.

I took a self portrait class, and made this in a sort of Picasso style. I think it’s more like my Gramma.

This year is one of big transitions in my family. One sister is moving from Illinois to Florida, another one is moving from California to Arizona. One nephew and wife are moving from one home in Texas to another, and his sister and family are doing the same. A second nephew and wife are moving from Michigan to Arizona. We are expecting two little strangers to join the family. See my big smile? And the long winter has me thinking of making a change too.

My brother is taking a big step, exhibiting his art for the first time. He is a wonderful photographer, and will show his photos at the local Library. He is the first artist to do so there, as I was the first one at my Library.

It’s difficult to take that step. It feels very personal to show your art, like baring your soul to others. It allows people to see the way you see the world, and how you think about it. It can make you feel defensive. Someone who has not done it may think it’s showing off, boasting. But I assure you, it is more of a reaching out to share with people, to find the things we have in common.

For many years I felt different from the people around me. I thought they would not understand my compulsion to make things, and my non traditional sense of beauty. I was afraid to show my true self. I cannot imagine how my life would be without the true friends I now enjoy, all of whom I met through sharing my art. My brother has a great store of friends already. And soon they will know him better, and he’ll have new ones too. And they will know him as the artist they met at the Library.

I have fallen into old habits lately, of making things and sending them off without taking a picture. Last week I delivered a Tshirt quilt, which, you’ll have to take my word for it, was the prettiest one I’ve made.
So that doesn’t happen again, I’m taking a picture of the place mats and napkins I am making for my brother. He has a home in Santa Fe, and these are fiesta colors and patterns. I’m making 8 placemats at least, and 16 napkins. The totals might go up as I search through my stash of fiesta fabrics. I love the style, so have amassed quite a lot.

I read 2 books this week. Walter Mosley writes detective fiction, and is a poet at heart. He has insight into the hearts of men, and expresses it in his vivid descriptions. I found myself rereading the lovely language he uses, to take in more fully his understanding of what motivates his characters. In the past I enjoyed his Easy Rawlins books. This is the first I’ve read of the Leonid McGill books, and I like him even more.

The other book is by Charlaine Harris. She writes about a society in which vampires and werewolves are an accepted part of the community. Their otherness is not always welcome, but tolerated. The stories are often hilarious, absurd, wild romps through frantic action. Her heroine, Sookie Stackhouse is a small town waitress, involved with the supernatural residents, romantically and/or murderously. I suggest you read the first few books in this series to get the gist of life in this brave new society.
Sookie is very likeable, incredibly brave, stupendously foolish, and idealistic. The earlier books are so funny I laughed aloud reading them. This book is an entertaining piece of character development, and carries the narrative of Sookies’ life along her improbable path. Warning: Lots of violence.

This bit of Springtime is in my backyard. It is a welcome balm to my heart, as I’m feeling unsettled because my house is all disarranged. We are replacing flooring in a couple rooms, so much of our stuff has been moved up and down. I knew I had a lot of junk, but moving it multiplies my understanding of how much is here. So I sit by the window, and breathe deeply. I have to tackle another big clear out.