Blooming.......

I have so many buds on cactus plants and finally they are starting to bloom.  This is all one flower.  It is the most elongated and large bloom that my plants produce.  I spotted a dark rose bloom last night on another one.

I know several of you watched the "Restoration Wild" program on Animal Planet network Friday night because you emailed me.  It features my daughter's family property in NC and I'm in the end of the show where all of the friends and family show up for the reveal.  It is still available on Comcast ON DEMAND until 11/9.  The producer did a great job editing all of the video.  My grandson did all of the aerial shots of the waterfall property and my son made the sign that is on the building.  My daughter's beautiful mosaic hangs inside the building.  It was all very exciting and I'm glad I was there for the reveal.  Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the waterfall as well as the building.

Lots done.........

I sat in a waiting room for an hour and a half yesterday morning while I had tires rotated and brakes repaired on my van.  I took this project along and finished the hand sewing on the binding.

In the afternoon I worked on the sashing and got this far on the quilt.  The top left and bottom right corners are sewn and one long row that hasn't been attached to the top left corner yet.  There are 2 rows left to do.  Click to enlarge the photo to see the sashing better.  This is my first audition for the border and already I like it and don't know if I should look any farther.  I have enough of it to cut it lengthwise too.  For a comparison of my quilt and the one in the book, go here to see the book. 

Back in June I told you about my trip to my daughter's waterfall property and the taping of the reveal party for a TV show.  Well, it is finally going to be aired on Friday  November 6 on Animal Planet.  The show is called "Restoration Wild".  It will be on 2 times that night, 8:01 p.m. and 10:05 p.m. Central Standard Time and 3 a.m. CST on November 7.  I was at the reveal party so maybe I'll be in it.......we don't know what they included.

Last 3 days...........

There are just 3 days left on my current show at Ciel Gallery in Charlotte NC.  My daughter says they still have lots of jewelry, ceramics, mosaic crosses, iron sculptures, paintings and mosaics available in addition to my wall art and mug rugs.

My film debut..........

Wanda S. Hanson presents her quilts at Ciel Gallery from Zach Burkhart on Vimeo.

This is the video my grandson filmed and composed for me from my show in North Carolina in June.  He is very talented and does freelance filmmaking.  

Press Release.....Ciel Gallery......

Tonight is the first Friday Crawl in Charlotte, NC at the Ciel Gallery where I had my show in June.  A few of my pieces are still hanging including 2 of the batik colorwashes.  Their display this month sounds like fun with the students showing off their pieces.  The Ciel partners also are showing their new works.  Here is the press release:

Opening Reception Friday, August 3

6:00 - 9:00 PM

128 E. Park Avenue

Come see what we've been up to at Ciel!

Students and Instructors Show Off

to give you a taste of what we offer in classes and Visiting Artist Workshops,

as well as new work from Ciel Partners.

Another SOLD!

Another small piece sold at my show at Ciel Gallery in Charlotte NC.  The show will end at 5 p.m. Saturday June 30 so you still have time to see it if you are in the area.  Yesterday a blog reader and her husband from AL visited and also a NC resident who traveled 3 1/2 hours to see the show was there.  My daughter was in her studio and got to meet them.  Thanks to both of you!!  I wish I could have been there and met you too.

I decided to make another piece similar to this one.  So far I have just pressed all of the raw edge strip onto a piece of fusible batting.  I have no idea what is happening to it next.  I'll let it tell me.

Warning to greedy squirrels:  Don't go head first into the bird feeder without an escape plan!!  I was eating my lunch and glanced out at this feeder and noticed the tail wasn't moving.  I went out to investigate and he's dead in there.  I thought I could shake him out but he's stuck.  It really makes me angry that he waited until I hung a new feeder to replace the one that was worn out.  The squirrels have been doing this dive into the feeders for years and this is the first one that didn't make it out.  They are just too handy for their own good.  They know how to pop the tops off of 2 of my 3 bird feeders in about 2 seconds.  I won't be replacing this feeder.

Another student link..........

Here is a link to another student's blog post about my class in NC.  Check out her work on her blog.  She makes some great stuff!

I forgot to show this sample to my Thursday class in NC. I always have them piled in order and somehow missed this one.  It is an example of leaning toward the next colors in the color wheel.  This one is blue with turquoise and periwinkle added.  Here is a better shot of it.

We should have hung this little quilt higher for all of the attention it got.  Here is the post with the step by step of how I made it.  The show is hanging at Ciel Gallery until June 30th if you are in the area of Charlotte NC and want to see it in person.

I made a purchase............

While I was visiting Ciel Gallery where my show is hanging, I made a purchase.  A museum charges admission.  A gallery lets you browse for free and depends on purchases to keep their doors open.

I was impressed with the nice jewelry pouch holding my purchase.  It will be handy when I travel next time.

I love necklaces and especially hand made ones with lots of different elements.

There are 5 partners in Ciel Gallery with a variety of products available.  Some of them do commission work also.  If you have enjoyed a visit to a gallery lately, tell your friends about it.  If you know of an office that is being redecorated or a friend needing fresh new art for their walls, check out Ciel Gallery in Charlotte, NC and all of the neighboring galleries.  Of course the featured artists would like sales too, to cover the costs of shipping, hanging, and insurance to produce their month long shows.  Here is a link to the current show (mine).  You can check out my posts about the gallery if you go to my label list (right sidebar) and click on NC.  The photos on the website and my blog were taken different times of the day so you can see them in all different kinds of lighting, some natural daylight, some artificial lighting.

Also while there check out my daughter's studio space.  It is a dream studio and you can see her works in progress as well as items she sells.

I'm home.......

I left my daughter's house at 9:30 a.m. yesterday and got home at 2 p.m.  That would be 3 p.m. her time so a 2 hour flight takes 5.5 hours from door to door.  I was too exhausted to do more than grocery shop and fill the bird feeders.  I'm just posting 2 more photos from my show because I want to remind everyone that the show continues until June 30.  This shot shows the sales counter with the display behind it.

I accidentally pressed the  button on my camera as I was lowering it and got a tilted photo that is amazingly in focus.  It was taken the day we were setting up and still has a ladder in the photo.  This shows the neat ceiling that was covered with a drop ceiling when they took possession of the building.

Hopefully I will have some energy today and get back to my studio.

Shopping, eating....

Yesterday I decided to go to one quilt shop in NC since we had a little more free time.  I really don't need any more fabric so I wasn't going to buy any but since we had nothing else to do........

Since I love burgers and my daughter had found this new place, we ended up eating here 3 times in 10 days.  I went to the Internet and found that there is one about 25 miles from me in IL so I may have to try it out and see if it compares with this one.  Reflecting in the window is Chico's where I also went shopping twice.  I have to drive about 30 miles from home to get to one so this was a treat to have one so convenient.  I'm flying home today.  It is hot in IL, hotter than any weather we had while I was here in NC. It wasn't even humid while I was here, just beautiful weather.



Last class.....

I think I have everyone in this class in the 3 photos.  They were a really fun group.

We were talking about binding again during our group visit to the gallery.  This time I was showing them how I finish the mug rugs.

The squirrels in NC are miniatures compared to the ones in my backyard in IL.

This photo will give a perspective of the size of the colorwash quilts.  I'm only a few inches over 5' so you can picture how these pieces would look on a wall in your house.  I just love the floor in the gallery. 

Discovery in the quilt pile and last chance to meet me...

I was looking at the pile of quilts of mine that my daughter owns and spied this one.  I don't think I have any other photos of it.  I think it is from the mid 1990s.  I made 2, one of them a miniature which I gave to a friend and this one.  I was playing with leftovers again in the center.  I had made a bunch of floral 9 patch blocks and the center is made from the remainder of the strip sets after cutting the blocks.

The only other photo I have of this is a digital made from a slide.  Neither one is perfectly true to the color of the quilt but this one is better than the other one.  This is from the same time period as the one above and is made from my favorite parts of 2 hand dyed fabrics from Melody Johnson when she was first selling her hand dyes.  I met her in the early 1990s and own a large box full of her fabric that she dyed over the years while she still lived in IL.

Today is the last day I will be at the Ceil Gallery before heading for home.  I have a class and will be free for meet and greet from 2:30-5.  A few of you have been asking about the mug rugs.  In the 4 days the gallery has been open since my show started we have sold 20.  I think that is a pretty good start.  One person bought 6 of them to use for gifts.  The show runs until June 30.

Viewers Choice

There hasn't been any actual voting at my show but this is the quilt (Square Dance) that everyone comments on.  It has been a favorite of both men and women.  Most of them talk about the depth created by the pattern.  It is SO much prettier in person than in a photo.

Links to student posts.....

Here is one more photo from yesterday's class.  You can see we are having a lot of fun.

As promised here are links to 2 student's posts about the classes.  If I find more I'll link to them too.

http://sewcookandtravel.blogspot.com/2012/06/intuitive-color-class-with-wanda-hanson.html
http://periwinklequilts.blogspot.com/2012/06/exuberant-color-class.html

Sunday side trip..and class photos...

Sunday for a little relaxing family time we went to the Botanical Gardens.  There were some beautiful colors there.

This dome was in the main building.  The humidity hasn't been too bad here in NC.  In fact we sat on the screened in porch to eat last night and it was very comfortable.  My house sitter in IL tells me we got some rain so I hope my back garden is perking up.

Yesterday's class was a lot of fun.  We had a last minute sign up for the class so I grabbed some extra kits to take.  We were talking about binding in this photo.

Everyone was finishing up their last exercise in this photo.  There are still 3 openings in Thursday's class and I will be there for meet and greet from 2:30-5 so I hope I will meet more readers.  I met several yesterday including one who came from Canada to see me.    I'll try to post some links to student's blogs that talked about their experience in class later today.

Another class day.....

Today is another busy day so I'll just post a couple photos that I have forgotten in previous posts.  The show name is perfect in white against all of the color inside.  You can see a glimpse of the nice parking lot to the right of the building so if you visit there is always good parking.

The position of this floating wall made it difficult to get a photo of the 'fraternal twins'.  Do you remember when I made the set of blocks with 2 similar in every color combination.  Here is a link where I explained that with the 2 tops side by side.  I'm off to teach and meet some more of my readers.

Sneak Peak Video......

Here is a link to little video of the First Friday Crawl opening of my show.

Class photos....

My grandson's girlfriend was in my class Saturday.  Here she is with her first exercise done with the fabrics, dividing the fabrics by color and surrounding the color wheel wedges.

At this point they are dividing the fabrics by value.  Notice the mosaic pieces for sale on the far wall.  There are some beautiful pieces there.  Some were in the show that preceded mine.

We took a 10 minute break at the half way point in the class so they could look at the show and ask questions about the pieces.

This is a good photo of the left wall too.

I know I have shown this wall before but I thought this photo was so good.  Some of the ladies who read my blog said the quilts are more beautiful in person.  I have always felt that way too.  You just can't capture all of the beauty with a camera.

The final exercise takes half of the class time and teaches blend.  Notice the student in the background looking through the red value seeker to check her values. Tina Alberni and my daughter, both partners in the gallery took all of the photos. They did a great job capturing the whole class with over 150 photos total.  This was great for me to be able to see myself in action too.

They brought pins to pin the pieces to a piece of fabric. They can substitute some fabrics of their own later if they want to make the blend smoother.

Everyone is making final decisions in this photo.  They all did a great job and I enjoyed having them in my class.

Another sale!

Crooked Cobblestones 5 is SOLD!

Third post today! More gallery photos...

This photo from the First Friday Crawl gives a little more perspective of the gallery.  This shot is about 6 feet in from the front door looking straight back.  There are 3 floating walls hanging from the ceiling down the center.

This photo was taken from the doorway to the classroom looking toward the front of the gallery.  You can see the 3 floating center walls a little better.

Here I am with my bouquet of hand dyed fabrics, a gift from Vicki.  She brought me more orange fabrics to mix with the group I showed about a week ago on a post.  I carried the bouquet all evening Vicki, so everyone knew who the queen was!

This is my other bouquet from my son's family back in IL.  Class photos will follow either today or tomorrow morning.