Bead Journal Project

Here is May's Journal quilt for http://andmorebjp08.blogspot.com I tried to bead the faint area on the left, but it spit the beads out, so I decided to keep it simple. It goes along with all the medical stuff and surgery to keep the rest of my life basic. I'm on the mend enough to want to spend at least part of today in my studio.

Postcards

Here is my April postcard from Sharon from http://calendargirls2008.blogspot.com Isn't it fun and just the lift I needed this month.

May is a calendar inspiration of Monet's waterlilies. I did it on the embellisher.

Quiltie

Thank you for all the comments and support. It was a very scary time, and it is great to know I have friends out there. My life has certainly been enriched by knowing all of you. Here is my companion who won't leave my side for very long. He's my 100 lb. nurse-just a little boy. He'll be 10 in August but still thinks he's a puppy.

This quiltie from Liz arrived while I was in the hospital. It is the exchange for Unlimited Textiles for the Kandinsky theme. Isn't it wonderful? I really enjoy getting the quilties.

Message, gifts

I usually don't put much personal stuff on my blog but decided that the message was too important to hide behind privacy. People know your own bodies, and if something is not right, go find out about it. I've just had surgery for an ovarian tumor that was just starting to change but not yet cancer, so the surgery took care of it. Now there is a blood test ca-125 that is a cancer marker like the PSA is in men, so it is much more detectable before it's too late. I'm fine and recovering very quickly thanks to being fit to begin with. It's just slow and driving me nuts not to be able to do much. However, it's nice for DH to wait on me. Dale of www.thethreadstudio.com had a giveaway on her blog of 60 things for her birthday. It was just after I learned of my problem but before I knew what was going on, so it was an incredible lift to win it and the above quiltie to cheer me on. I sat in the hospital bed and kept going through everything planning on what to do with it. Thank you for being there Dale, and giving me something to look forward to.

This is just some of what came.

Here's some more, but there is twice as much as I've shown-perfect!

Here are some more samplers on black. The feather stitch is one I love, because it looks like something from nature. The cretan is so easy to manipulate and get unusual shapes.

I need to make a book or something with all these "pages".

I won't be able to blog for a while but will be back as soon as possible.

Stitchery

Before taking Susan Sorrell's class Fertile Earth at www.joggles.com , I'd printed the photo I took of mushrooms on fabric. It sat for several years, because any of the stitches I tried still made the piece look flat.

Her class taught me to layer sheers, cheesecloth, and net on the background before stitching. It really gives the piece more depth.

Exchanges

This month for Unlimited Textiles the theme is Kandinsky. I don't like all his art but do like the geometric pieces, so that's what I worked from. The background is wool and the appliques are Ultrasuede. A leather needle really helps when trying to sew Ultrasuede.