Getting Your Game On.

With all the art work I do and all the sewing, knitting, quilting etc.  exercise is one of those things that keep being put off.  Not a good thing to do!  I would so love to just exercise my mind and leave the thought of exercising my bod for tomorrow.  That however will not do in this world and to go into all the reasons that I have for NOT exercising would just encourage, well the NOT exercising part.  So there you have it.  Lately I have taken to walking and walking long and hard.  Here in the mountains there is always a hill or steep incline to make your way up.  And with the Dogs they are always eager to get a walk on.  How ever sometimes you need to shake things up a bit.  Do something different!  Oh I opted for the audio books and boy they are great but still I felt as if something was miss.  Something just was not.... hummm how should I say it?  STIMULATING ENOUGH.  Tread mills are just that going no place and staring at the same point day after day.  Even weight training, my mind was always some where else.  Wanting to get back to doing or creating in the studio.  Then  like a pot at the end of the rainbow I discovered... RACKET BALL.  Like a dog that discovers when his master tosses the ball they can chase it, I became turned on by this great game.  You don't even need another player.  You can just go and hit that little rubber delight back and forth and back and forth.  All you energy and aggression can be taken in about an hour.  The sweat you work up is just great and the aerobics that come naturally with the game is such and added plus.  Now I have become a regular down at my Community Center.  I feel better and best yet it is so fast pass that my mind does not have time to wish that it was doing something else.  The more I do it the better I get.  The benefits of one hour a day are great!  You are not in the hot sun you are in an air conditioned room with a fan to boot.  To spice things up I take my 15yr old and we have a ball.  (She does not move as fast but she is still fun to take ) After our work out it is back to the house and the studio to catch up on homeschooling and studio work.  The energy that is flowing is wonderful.  New ideas and direction come a bit more easily it is like re-booting your brain giving it that new serge of creativity.  Actually I find those days that I don't go I am wishing I was there!  I guess I know what the dogs are thinking now..... ball, ball, ball, ball, ........

Finishing up

A note

 on Quilting

As you know, I quilt and I am working on finishing up a hand quilted peace that I have put together taken from a magazi

ne that is several years old  McCalls's Quilting October 2000. In that issue they featured a Calico cat quilt filled with... well, just cats.  If you can get your hands on this pattern you won't be disappointed.  Robert Callaham's the creator of this charming charm quilt.  It is an easy one and you can give it your own twist and turns. 

 I have used some calico prints that are generally the same value in color but with pattern variances.  In the 

pattern that they use they have used different

 colors for a wonderful bright and lively look.  I might want to add now that I have gotten you all lathered up to hunt down those back issues of McCall's Quilting Mag. that this was purchased in Ireland and they may  slightly differ in their American counterparts.  I am not sure as to how much.  Being an hand quilter enthusiast ( this type of enthusiasm sometimes develops out of love and sometimes because you don't have room in your studio and you will have to build a whole new one t

o accommodate a long arm quilting mach.)  What every my motivation is I just love hand quilting.  Oh man do I see a correlation between racket ball and hand quilting.  Ball, Ball, .... Needle, needle,  Lol now my personality is coming through.  Well you have to have some of that personality (obsessive I believe) to help wit

h doing what it is I do.  Anyway I give this pattern a thumbs up for ease and all round great pattern.  It is great to use up some of that stash that we all accumulate. 

Cool New Books for Art!

Package from Dover Arrives in the Studio

Oh, I am like a kid.  The mail just came and after hiding from the postal worker (cause I was in my PJ's still and my hair resembles that of a porcupine in a pissed off mood) I collected the package from my door step.  My Dover art books just arrived.  As you have seen by my work I am trying some new things with clip art and using them in a collage effort to produce a new line of work! 

I am careful to use the permission-free designs or royalty fee.  Here are some of my new libary!  I might point out that these books are on sale at Dover regularly 19.95 - 22.95 I ordered 6 of them on sale and saved 85.59 total.  Bringing my order to only 50.$ and when 50$ they ship free!  Great way to save!