quilt top

so this is the 25 star quilt top i am working on... still. i hope to post the finished quilt next. i can always hope. it did not get to the Haleiwa Arts Festival finished as planned but traveled back and forth in a tote bag needing only half the hand binding and a label to be added before hanging. this top it is composed of my hand paints in the lovely colors of life, assorted muslins and pieced into a saw tooth star block that seems to be my favorite as i use it again and again. each block has 4 points of yellow to mango colored fabric and the rest random. i hung it on the clothes line to take the photo .the stained glass effect my fabrics radiates makes me happy on this rainy morning. it is oh so close now to being finished as i unpack and unwind from the gypsy art fair world of last week end. it was truly Christmas in July in so many ways. it was filled with new and old friends and acquaintances and customers and sights and sounds, ( bag pipers even!) and foods from local farms and creative cookers . my tent was not too far from the main stage and when i could take a brake i would listen to Celtic, Hawaiian, jazz, big band , and rock music and watch dancers as well. if you get a chance to go to a festival in your area you will be renewed and energized by the spirit of such as temporary art city and all its citizens ! now the tents are down and the trampled grass can once again grow up to the light and green up . my tent was partially under a huge monkey pod tree which gave off a light exotic fragrance from the pink blossoms when the winds blew a certain direction. and we had some big wind ,too. i brought a box of rocks to hold my fabric and angels down on the displays thought some angels did fly about the booth and into my neighbors ..... and some flew to other countries and many to the mainland in hand painted bags, quilted and otherwise....
now that's another story .

This weekend is the Haleiwa Art Festival where i show my arts and talk story and show and tell how my art starts as an idea and then speak of some of the process to get to the finished product. i have shown in this juried show for ten years and i look forward to it again this years. so many children come through the tent during this great summer weekend and they are so full of life and ideas . they totally "get" using household items , reusing scraps , upcycling humble items , and found treasures of nature and man to make art . they are so much more aware of their environment then we were at the young age .

the yellow and pink hibiscus pillows above are one of my original designs using my painted fabric and yardage .     
            i will have fabric, patterns, and finished art
                 to sell at Haleiwa Arts festival.

http://www.haleiwaartsfestival.org/

stop by and say hi!

while green is still on my mind , i took these photos of a neighbors wall . it is painterly in the color sense of the plantings now that they have grown in . The Ti plants are reddish with lots shading but what started this photo session was the growing stuff on the cement walls. i believe it to be a creeping ivy , Fig? and the patterns it makes are most lovely. depending on time of day and year , the light plays off the plants and wall and color shifts. To me that is the amazing thing about color. subtle shifts depending on what is next to what and the light. ain't nature grand? you bet!

green is my favorite color , closely followed by all the others so in this photo of a chameleon on leaves one can see the many shades of sunlit green. so yummy! he's shopping for bugs in the garden while keeping his revolving eyes out for my cats as well.what is in your garden?

summertime

summer to me means golden shades of buttery flowers , so the day lily that blooms near our front door the" Stella de Oro" is definitely one of them. this morning the 3 states of a flower captured my attention as i went to feed my chickens , this is what saw.

yesterdays faded blossom,

today glorious bloom ,

and the promise of tomorrows bud....

whats blooming in the garden near you?

growing a pineapple

growing a pineapple from the top of a purchased one is a slow but sweet process. i can't remember how long this one took but it was a tiny, the size of my hand when it began to turn that golden color at base. and when i sliced it up i had the sweetest pineapple ever. one serving and i ate it very slowly!

amusing grace

Saturday makes me silly.

 light headed. a carry over from childhood no doubt when the week end loomed ahead. today i posted postcards to a group that trades postcard arts,

 among other projects.

 That is how we started.  We have all learned and shared a great deal with each other and from all over the globe, too! Amazing! today i sent out my muses, and a quote i reworded to fit my amusing state of mind. the grace comes from the trust and art and sharing that comes along with a few years of making art and putting a stamp on it and dropping in in a mailbox. and grace is felt again when a card comes to me from across the ocean and is nestled in my mailbox with bills and magazines .it is the first thing i read and turn over in my hand.

  Perhaps grace has arrived because it is already here!

 

be well, Sonja

 i have joined the folks with blogs at long last . i have read many that have inspired me to share my art and insites on creating.

Sonja