Its a boy!

I am pleased to announce the final arrival of our newest quadraped.

Cute isn't he? He is very sweet and mild mannered, for a puppy. He needs a name, however, and our family is stumped.

He is a 9 month old St.Bernard/German Shepherd, and although he will be big he seems small compared to Mus.

We didn't think we would find such a specific breed, but he was already waiting for us.

Is God awesome, or what? His tapestry is so intricate, so beautiful.

We wanted to adopt a dog who needed a home, there are SOOO many out there! When Mus came to our family the children were little and the predictability of a pure bred dog had its advantages. I would add another Great Dane to our family, definitely. But I think of how we come to Christ, lost, lonely, in need, and in a lot of ways, damaged. And I want to love like Jesus Christ does, everyday, in all ways big and small.

So onto the "contest"! Leave a suggestion for a name, with its meaning, and the reason you are suggesting it, in my comments. If My family chooses your name I will send you either a piece of hand dyed fabric or a silk scarf. I am new to blogging and how the comment section works so give me a little leeway, let me know gently if I mess up anything OK? The best way to learn is to dive in and " get messy, make mistakes!"

Good luck, and hurry, the dog as of yet unamed really needs a name!

More Joy

I made some design choices and stitched it up, now Joy hangs on my design wall waiting to be embellished. I can't wait to start stitching!

I am back to the commission quilt though. I need to get it quilted and now, back from Florida, I can set up my quilting spot.

I couldnt help adding something, I am not sure the lettering will stay as is, its not stitched down, but its headed wrere I want it to go.

What do you think?

Camping in Florida

Our family went camping May 8th in Florida. My sisters went to a whole lotta trouble and made our trip extra special. We were able to spend time with all of the family, for good chunks of time.

There is no greater joy than family, I wish mine weren't so far away.

Our camp site was right on the water and absolutely beautiful. Take a peek.

Sun prints and "Joy"

I pulled out my inks, (Tsukineo) and Prisma pencils to put some details into Joy's flowers.

I love the flowers I did but I am not going to use them in this piece. I like the look of the simple sun print better than the dolled up ones. It is closer to what I want the piece to represent. Hopefully I can get it out of my head and onto the design wall at least close to what I see.

I did put some detail on a few of the ones set aside for the piece but not much and I stopped short of overload, at least I hope I did.

These orange pics are a before and after. This one will go into "joy".

Here is the design idea before the added details.

I am still hoping to have worked on this enough to have it ready for hand embelishing before we leave for Florida. The thought of sitting on (or near) the beach with the kids playing and me stitching is very peaceful.

I could use some peaceful, how about you?

Where will Joy lead?

The sun dye pieces I did the other day caught in my head and Since I finished the commission quilt top I decided to throw them on the design wall.

I love to use my digital camera when I am designing. I take a picture of everything I audition, put it in a folder on my computer and then I can flip back and forth between them. It really helps to see the strong points and the flaws of a design.

Something like this

There are more pics, but why bore you? This piece is called "Joy", and it feels like it. I was thinking lap quilt but one of the layouts shouted wall hanging so that is where we head. It is something I plan on having fun with and not fretting over. Some ink, beads embroidery. Just joy. That is why the Lord made artists, to bring Him glory with pure Joy. I pray I bring Him some kind of glory. At least a smidge.

Now for the extra sun dyed pieces, should I put them on Etsy or hoard them? They were not planned, just a fun jaunt, but I do like them. They have that suede look you can do with MX dyes and soy. Yum, eye candy.