Ah, today I would give anything to jump at the sunset.

This is my daughter, on Valentine's Day, in Florida.  We were so happy to be there!  Even though it was cold.  I love this picture.

The storm supposedly coming to our area fizzled out, after I spent a long time deliberating over whether to hold my workshop on Saturday ! Ah well. Hopefully nothing will happen to cancel it the next time.

"And imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name." - William Shakespeare

Class Rescheduled due to weather

Hi Everyone,
I am sorry to report, that due to snow storm predictions with accumulation this evening I am rescheduling my Methods to the Madness II class for the Northern Lights Quilts Guild to April 24th. In the meantime, please review the initial methods, add to your piece or even make a new one to cut up in the class. Please let your friends know because there is still space in the class! The more the merrier! - Margaret

A Blustery Day

We've been having blustery weather which has me thinking about Winnie the Pooh! Oh! Remember the picture of Christopher Robin with the wind blown umbrella! The weather here is windy.

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " and then he had to stop and think. Because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. -- Winnie the Pooh

So, I'm getting there with my studio. It's happening, slowly. It's feeling good. Thank you fan club for your support.

"An Artist is merely someone with good listening skills who accesses the creative energy of the universe to bring forth something on the material plane that wasn't here before." - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Here's to creative energy from the universe.... Yes!

Working on the Studio

"Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how.... The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark." - Agnes de Mille

Today, I am still working on getting my studio rearranged. It has taken me awhile because I am going for the feeling of it being finished. Right now, that feeling is not there.

Yes, I can set up my sewing machine. Yes, I can get work done, but not creative work. The manual automatic stuff can happen here but I want the gut feeling that goes behind a spontaneously creative quilt. Anyone who knows that feeling in their studio can understand what I'm after. I hope to achieve it today.

OK, back to business!

There is still room in my Methods to the Madness II class this Saturday.


contact michelle@FabriCadabra.com

Moving forward, No looking back!

I am back from Florida and my Cape Cod sewing retreat, two vacations that merged together more closely because of the disruption in my travel plans.  This picture is of my sister Liz and me cutting out her project at the Cape retreat.

I feel rejuvinated. This is good!

So what has happened since I wrote last?

I started my book project, Art Quilts: Methods to the Madness I. It's in the infant stage, but my project has begun. I have a long haul ahead, but it feels like it's going to be a fun project.

I have been invited to move my SculptureFest prayer flag installation to a new location at the Adrian Duckworth Museum in Meridan, NH, for a new show this spring. I am one of eight artists!

I have accepted the position of Co-Rep for the ME/NH/VT region of SAQA, Studio Art Quilters Association.  Look for me pedaling the information of a dynamic and enthralling group of people!
Check it out!

I teach this Saturday, Art Quilts: Methods to the Madness II for the Northern Lights Quilts Guild. There is still room left in this class!  see description below and contact: michelle@FabriCadabra.com

It's almost March.  I'm moving forward, no looking back.

Snowstorms and cancellations

Today I should have woken up in Florida.

I am trying to go with the flow, and relax with the fact that massive snowstorms are still occurring that could keep me from getting to my destination today. I am trying hard not to beat myself up in my mind. Oh! If I had just paid a little more and gotten a direct flight, I would be there now! I would be there now!

Reoccurring patterns, in my life, overlap with whatever I am doing. Whether its quilting, gardening, or just living my daily life, I find myself constantly beating myself up for the decisions I make (or don't make!).

O.K. Margaret, Stop over analyzing!

Today I will just be "in the moment", as I drive to the airport, check in my luggage, sheep herd through security, and sit in the waiting area for a flight that may be delayed and delayed and delayed and possibly cancelled.

I should enjoy the challenge. Look at it as a new adventure in patience. I can take in the view of interesting eclectic people I will be exposed to, I can reflect on my life in a new environment, I can envision that I will get there.

But, as long as my daughter and I are safe, that's really all that matters!

Yeah, that's really all that matters.

Art Quilts: Methods to the Madness II

My next class I'm teaching will be my Methods II class, for the Northern Lights Quilt Guild, Saturday February 27th from 9 - 4 pm.

Art Quilts: Methods to the Madness II; Where do I go from here?
In this class you will take the fabric you started in Methods I and transform it to a new level. Becoming aware of the dialog between you and your emerging piece, you will work with rulers, templates, curves and free form, to explore various ways to bring your continually changing piece in and out of, what you consider to be, a logical place. The techniques from Methods I will be re-emphasized and creativity and exploration will be the focus of the class. Plan on being a little out of control. The emphasis is on taking risks and emergence. Let's see what happens!

Contact michelle@FabriCadabra.com for more information

Ground Hog Day!

"Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify"-Henry David Thoreau

I am back in my studio, and yes, I'm tearing it apart. It's such a mess, I cannot work. I'm trying to get it right, and tidy! There is so much paperwork everywhere, I have taken it upon myself to try to organize it and Throw it Out!, too!

But from all this mess, clutter and reorganization, I woke this morning, feeling creative, and thinking creative thoughts!

So....

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. ..And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." - Marianne Williamson, A Course in Miracles

Shine on, my friends, shine on!