Can't believe it's been so long since I've posted on the blog. I'm still alive and employed.

Working 3:00 to 11:00 pm isn't so bad after all! I get to sleep in, meet new friends at work, and then there's that pay check.

It was a difficult transition and I'm very grateful for the prayers and encouragement from online and long-time friends.

Sometimes you just do what you have to do.

On the other hand, I'm working on a new book, which should be available on CD in January—just in time for Quilting in the Desert in Arizona!! I'll post a few photos soon.

What a month it has been! Thank you so much to those who have offered encouragement and comfort.

Next Monday I begin training for a full-time position with a technical company.

I don't know what it will mean for my artwork. I'm praying for a happy heart—to be where I'm suppose to be.

This change could not be anticipated, but after a client let me work on a project for a year, released the product and then did not pay me (and will not pay me), I'm in the position of needing employment with a steady income.

Heavy heart.

May 15 was the second annual Rural Studio Tour here in Fort Wayne area. Kristy Jo Beber of Leo does an incredible job of promoting the event and I was pleased to be part of the tour again. There were eight studios on the tour including a photographer, wearable-art designer, assemblage, ceramicist, fiber artists, painters, and more!

The studio locations were identified with lawn signs and I added jumbo pinwheels, which turns cheerily in the breeze. It was a bit overcast, but we avoided rainfall until about 2:30 in the afternoon.

Two Sipsters Studio pinwheels were purple and orange, of course!

This is a shot of the length of the studio, looking uncharacteristically straight and organized.

Rosie Strothman had needle-felted lapel pins.

Dixie Bradley's new assemblage art was a hit, as well as her beautiful dichroic glass jewelry.

Here Dixie is wearing one of her dichroic glass pendants.

Arlette Graeflin, a well-known party planner from Bluffton, Indiana was on hand with her signature champagne cupcakes and new mango punch. My schoodle, Elsie was tuckered out from greeting all the guests and being disarmingly cute.

My new product included cell phone cases with digital collage.

And small Threadography® pieces with custom-edge finishes. This is a tuberous begonia,

a nasturtium with remarkable depth (and I don't remember where I took this photo),

Peppermint roses, taken at one of the local rose gardens (LOVE the texture in this),
an orange poppy (doesn't this just scream for beads?),
and trillium (an early spring woodland flower),
And tulip (also taken at a local park).

The padfolio line has been expanded to include padfolios for artists, with watercolor paper or canvas sheets inside.

Studio intern, Lee Powers created this shrink-art charm bracelet as a sample of possible heart designs guests could make as a make-it/take-it activity.

It was a lot of work to prepare for the event, but I considered it a way to do spring cleaning in the studio. Everyone seemed to have a good time—and we're looking forward to the Third Annual Rural Studio Tour next year!

Do you have an event similar to this in your area?

And the winner is.... Sandra of Moab, Utah!! Congratulations!

Please contact me with your e-mail addy and I'll send the fat quarters right out!

Fat Quarter Give-away!!

Although I haven't seen it on the shelves of a quilt shop yet, Cute As A Bug has shipped and is officially a product!! I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. I've wanted to design fabric since I was 7 years old and here it is. What a blessing!

The manufacturer is Avlyn Inc. They don't sell to chain stores (as the designer, I'm conflicted on that one) and the quality is fabulous. You could put a fat quarter of Cute As A Bug next to a fat quarter of the most expensive quilt fabric in the shop and you couldn't tell which one was which. It feels great, needles great, and has great body (not sure about the thread count).

In this economic climate with the increase in the cost of greige goods (pronounced gray goods), I was afraid Avlyn would have to use a cheaper blank fabric, but NOO Way! They used the good stuff and even included a glow-in-the-dark ink around the glow worm and lightning bug.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I'd like to offer two sets of fat quarters as a giveaway. Yes, I'll pay shipping anywhere on the planet.

All you have to do is leave a comment here or on Face Book, with the name and addy of a quilt shop that might be interested in carrying the fabric.

BTW: There will be a quilt made with the fabrics in the Avlyn booth at Quilt Market in May. Two of the fabrics have sold out already (!), so the quilt will incorporate 10 of the 12 skus.

So, please help me celebrate!!!

Digital Collage for Mixed Media at Quilt Festival

New workshop from Two Sipsters Studio: Digital Collage for Mixed Media debuted at Quilt Festival in Cincinnati.

What fun we had selecting backgrounds and subjects, adding words, and surface design before stitching and finishing!

The sewing labs were great, eliminating the need for participants to each drag a sewing machine to class. Thank you Janome!!

We explored words added as a layer in the digital collage, or added as a quotation printed on cotton twill tape.

Once each participant chose the background, subject, and words, they were printed on fabric and layers of texture were added with stencils and/or rubber stamps.

Jana had never worked with digital collage before, but was able to complete an awesome mini quilt in class.

Eleny was the class angel and passed out class materials, as well as disposed of paint cleanup.

Photographs, words, digital and manual texture are combined in delightful mini quilts for gifting or displaying.

Some students combined their own backgrounds and subjects in Photoshop Elements, while others had little or no experience with the software.

Happy faces share the results of their classroom work, inviting YOU to the next Digital Collage for Mixed Media!!

My first fabric collection for Avlyn!!

This is the main fabric from my new collection Cute As a Bug for Avlyn Inc. The glow worms and lightning bugs glow in the dark!!

The main fabric and this one with the black background have sold out already! I'm thrilled.

This one also has glow-in-the-dark ink. The buzzle bees are adorable!

The quality of the fabric and the printing really exceeds my expectations. This is fabric I am proud to say will be available exclusively in independent quilt and fabric shops!

It’s hard to see in this tiny photo, but these are itty bitty lollypop roses that echo the design of the snail shells.

What fun! I’m over the moon, to finally see this as a finished product—and I’m working on the next collection right now.

Keep checking back. There may be a fat-quarter give away in the next week or so!! Tee hee!

Threadography goddess in northern California!!

Meet Zerita. She is a member of the California Association of Machine Embroiderers (CAME). She was in my Altered Photo Artistry workshop at their annual seminar in 2010. It was a delightful surprise to see her in the same workshop earlier this month. Little did I know, she has become a Threadography® GODDESS!

This time she worked on a cluster of beautiful California poppies. She was too modest to tell me this wasn't her second, or even third, Altered Photo Artistry piece (Threadography). Our mutual friend Rhoda spoke up to inform me Zerita had made 15 in the last year!!!

"These are my passion!" she says enthusiastically. Zerita’s husband enjoys working with Photoshop Elements, so they are collaborative efforts. This is a photo of one wall in their home theater with a display of Threadographies.

A shot of another wall shows they have room for a few more pieces!

I didn’t ask her what this flower is. We saw it in a garden, blooming on an unfamiliar (to me) succulent. The stamen and pistils really “pop” because Zerita painstakingly outlined each of the floral elements.

Purple-and-white iris are a particular favorite of mine and this one really complimented the rainbow of pink, yellow, orange, and blue blossoms in the groupings.

Orange day lily is a good choice for a quilter working on a first-time Threadograph.

Zerita’s 16th piece is a kaleidoscope stitched for a friend—and highlighted with hot-fix crystal rhinestones.

Dahlias are dramatic and beautiful, but I recommend them for a second or third project, because they require so much outlining.

Zerita has done an outstanding job of enhancing the illusion of depth by outlining the flower and not the leaves.

Roses are a favorite subject for altered photos. The curling petals offer plenty of variety in highlights and shadows.

I think these must be hibiscus. Love the detail in the veins of the petals!

Hollyhocks with single petals are fun to stitch, but the intricacies of double or ruffled petals add a richness to the composition.

I'm tempted to say these look like snapdragons, but I'm not positive. Their petals are similar shaped—and they have spotted details deep in the blossoms’ throats.

Oriental poppies with their textured centers offer a stitching challenge, but the finished piece is well worth the effort!

Zerita's husband made the mock-up of a magazine cover as a surprise. Maybe I'll have to add this as a project in my new online Photoshop Elements class!