After the fair is over

Mahalo to all the folks

 who walked through my tent last weekend at the Haleiwa Arts Festival and had time to talk, offer comments and enjoy the view and laugh and share stories! Mahalo to all those who went home with some of my
 smaller  art  pieces  in  hand  painted bags . 
A Big Mahalo to Sherry for helping me once again, you are a treasure!

i am recovering  my energy levels and mentally composing a post fair post.

I am grateful for all the fine folks i met for the first time and greeting folks from before.

i hope i remembered your names...

Be well, Sonja

Haleiwa Arts Festival 2018

The Haleiwa Arts Festival 2018

is now less than a month away.....
 so I am preparing fabrics and  projects to share at the 21 th  annual HAF. Lately I  am  sort  of  slow at pulling together concepts, start ups with colorful bits of cloth with intention of  making a solid item to reflect what i was  feeling or thinking; a collection of ideas born out of previous "what ifs" and mind changes, then turning that into something that did not exist  before and that you and I can consider and turn over in our hands.

There is a bit of magic in doing the work. i am a transformer it turns out!!

watching paint dry

cut up, sew, quilt  

make!

Some things only happen once !

as in this notebook cover with its colors and arrangement.

           For a  wonderfully  colorful  day,

save the dates   July 14  and 15  2018

          10 am to 5 pm  on Saturday the 14th
  10 am to 5 pm on Sunday the 15th

                                                      www.HaleiwaArtsFestival.org

i am booth  #96
 near the front entry / information tent/ kids art tent

                                                     

Kunia Orchid show 2018

Orchids are amazing flowers . As a painter i am first drawn to the color.

The  colors and then the form and then  the fragrance of  many , oh my goodness, the fragrances!

Words do not begin to describe, heavenly  comes close .

These are called hono hono and are dendrobiums they come in white and every shade of lavender pink and  they are so very  fragrant !

last year we brought  dendrobiums home from the orchid show as a bunch of sticks and this year they bloomed!

March is their season!    so fragrant!

back to the orchid show....

 i have this vanda so i hope she blooms again this year!  

Miltonias are so beautiful .

 They grow at at higher elevation and a commonly called the pansy orchids. 

 a few anthuriums 

dendrochilum wenzelii

We bought a couple of these tiny charmers. I spoke with the vendor saying they look like tiny zippers to me ( i am a sewist after all!)  She said "Oh, that sounds a lot better than centipedes !"

 If you look closer you can see her in the palaka apron packing them in a little box for the ride home.

The clouds were so unusual and amazing on our drive home i had to take  photos .

Seems when the clouds are so varied there is a change in the  weather  coming soon.

 After the show i am itching to sketch and paint some orchids and attempt to capture

 a bit of the magic and beauty  of the flowers all around us .Ain't nature grand!

HOHOHO, just no snow

Each year for the past 20 years i have held a small event on my deck right before Christmas

 and invited some  my local clients/pals and folks that

 like  the fabric stuff  i make with imagination built in.

These three  lovely ladies all appeared about the same time wearing festive necklaces and jolly smiles.

i just had to get a picture of them enjoying the morning  all shiny and brite.

so temporarily i cover my painting table with a table cloth and set out my wears that i wish to share like some of my quilts and pillows and ornaments and Santas and angels...

i bake cookies the night before and set out a pot of hot water for tea and see who shows up.

That is always a pleasant surprise  as some folks i haven't seen i years, some recently met and some know each other from other situations show up. What most folks have in common is that some  my ornaments are hanging on their trees if they haven't given them away! I am also surprised on how long it takes me to put away Santa's elves work shop  things and return my deck to a living space. 

night bloomimg cereus 

looking very Christmasy!!

I finally finished the " mango-hip to be squared" quilt ! With the sun shining through the upper right side 

it is  so  glowing  and  sweet  and  cuddly  to me.

above

A close up of a block using mostly my hand painted fabrics and some batiks.

i hand guided my Bernina 830 record  for my quilting  and using verigated threads for fun.

i posted  part of the process of building this quilt recently on pumpkin colors post and 

now that it is bound and finished, here she is again.

  a variety of gathered leaves and flowers in Christmas colors

arranged and photographed into a holiday card for last year.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas

 and 

a most Happy Healthy New Year 2018. 

Thankful 2017

Thankful !

for colorful and healthy food

I am thankful for the fresh food from farmers market and the garden. for friends old and new, near and far, and those that visit the blog. i am grateful for paint and cloth and enough ideas to keep going , and for hope. i am thankful for sunsets bold and  sunsets soft. i am thankful for good health and smart hands and for enough.

 All you need is enough.

 and that is enough.

Happy Thanksgiving to all !