COLOR, Flower Power and MORE Color!

I needed a shot in the arm of color today. It is kind of sad during this time with my husband being sick but we both try hard to count our many blessings. So I turned to thought of color in fabric! Why not?

 Found this great photo of Ann's quilt (she is from Copenhaugen) and I love her European flavor....NICE colors on gray-hint: if the gray is TOO cool, it will slurp up your goodl colors (I call it coloring sucking)-some lavendars (firty) and greens (dirty and greyed) and checkboards do the same thing. beware!

 Love the colors and flower in front of tessuti Zoo in Pacific Grove- my favorite shop!

 Speaking of Pacific Grove, I love these real flowers that are always in bloom in Pacific grove when I teach at Asilomar there. Note: Next year will be my last Story quilt class for at least two years. I am switching to Christmas so if you want to take the story quilt class, sign up in May at Emptyspoolsseminars.com for next year. I will be there the last session and the best time with weather to visit

 Here is a sampler I did of Flower Power samples ...great color and fun- still need to add the buttons to the middle of the flowers and I am going to use perle cotton on the pineapple...fun!

More flowers from in front of tessuti Zoo- so happy, so colorful!

 Above is a sample of a story quilt using some hoochy animals I designed...I am trying to remember the wonderful girl who took my retreat AND asilomar and did this...wonder if she finished it? Awesome

A clock wall at Tessuti Zoo in California...a must see!

And below a green wall with handmade aprins and lovely cups and more clocks and lots of fun....

 Here is a wonderful class I taught in Illinois this past year. These girls rocked at experimenting and having fun. Loved being there!

Flowers where I live also! and a little house somewhere that I want to live in. PLEASE.

I want to buy this little house when I win the lotto (in Pacific Grove- though I told friends I wold buy a huge place so we could all have slumber parties there. Right now I could not afford a trailer there...Haha

The quilt below is by my friend Linda Pederson who I think is exceptional with COLOR and applique skills...I envy her talents!

Below is just a portion of my John C. Campbell quilt. I hope to have it done the end of this year...it is really fun.

 The quilt below is from a Spokane retreat girl named Jennine...she goes by J-9 -love her Flower Power style!

 These fish were from one of my block swaps...pretty fun fish I would say, my favorite is on the lower right

 Sandi from Canada is working on this qilt...love the colors and the fun!
Below are students samples of birds, hearts and hoochy blocks...pretty and fun!

Below is J-9's quilt again...love it

Hope you enjoyed a little vacation of color and fun. Color can take me on a vacation any day and when it is used in quilts in fun ways, I am extra blessed. Hope you are too!
   Here is a link to Anna's blog who has a nice little snippet of the Asilomar week I attended. I look drug out for sure but have a good reason for it. I had FUN and positive girls in my workshops ad that made my week great! Plus selling that large quilt to Del Thomas for her quilt collection. Blessings are nice when you appreciate them! Have a colorful week, friend!
http://wooliemammoth.blogspot.com/2014/03/empty-spools-seminar-next-chapter.html?

Car Quilt Because You Asked

 I just posted info about my Asilomar workshop but many of you have asked about the car quilt you helped make. I could hardly get it away from my husband to get a photo but here is the quilt and here and some of the blocks before we made the quilt (my friend Connie and I put it together and Kathy Woods quilted it.

 Here are three wild and crazy guys under the quilt...Mark is under this every single day...he loves it! And we all do too. Thank you for your kindness. Also I want to say "thank you" to many of you who have kept us in mind and send postcards, greeting cards, little surprises and some money too. Susan S. thank you sincerely for your gift at Asilomar. Mark is having trouble with our many stairs now and so we are getting a bathroom done next to his man cave which will now become his bedroom as it is on the floor with no stairs. We want him comfy and cozy and happy. It is a tough time for us but we do thank you all for your lovely care and love you have sent and for your prayers as we make this difficult journey.

Asilomar girls create great color, happy stories and use Process to stretch!

Isn't this the cutest? Nancy Donahoe took my Flower Power book and combined the flowers and also the frog pattern in the book. Isn't this the cutest? Happy and Spring like....just like Asilomar!

I love it! Carol who took my workshop made this adorable hat from the Flower Power book and she said she took my adnice from class and remembered that "Bigger IS better" for the flower...isn't this darling?

Elise was off and running with her blocks and the Flower Power book also...isn't her border looking like one happy Spring day??? Love it!

How happy for me! I had 20 of the nicest and most creative girls ever. We had alot of laughs and alot of sharing in class. Lots of good stories of our lives too. LOVED every minute of it. I went home happy and refreshed!

Who says a butterfly has to be boring? Isn't this great with the applique and the embroidered details???

It is fun to have serious butterflies and funny ones too. Judy did a funny one and I love it's face!

We trade fairy gifts in my longer workshops and Gail from Florida made each of us a fabulous pin cushion...isn't it COOL? Here is Gail below....

This was the cow quilt in the beginning but it didn't look like it does now...this is why process is so much fun-you never know what you will have!

The quilt below was made for a daughter who is graduating from Nurses School...we all laughed over the nurse sayings -very fun!

Below is Rosemary who lives in Hawaii and has three different radio programs for the blind. Isn't her quilt wonderful with these awesome, playful and inventive sail boats? LOVE this!

Below is May Wong's great border waiting for her three Grandchildren as toddlers...she has the drawing done and it is fabulous...waiting to see how wonderful it is as it progress's. She is now making a cow along with her Bee group....pretty fun!

Below Judy works on a quilt for her husbands that tells about the time his dog shot his hunting partner. :0)

Below is Carol's quilt, I love her colors and style!

Robin brought the most amazing colors...soft and kind of contemporary and we learned about how gray is a cool color and can recede like green, purples and blues....gotta show it whose boss with a few little secrets. This is beautiful..

Below I think this is Linda's wonderful blocks and she is doing a story about the seashore and her Grandkids...darling and beautiful blocks too!

This is Judy's happy quilt that will be called "Lil Dudes" about her twin Grandsons...very happy picture in the middle of these happy blocks!

Below is Leslie Matthews who has taken my class before and she had made a Baby Hawaii" quilt for her Granddaughter and then her other little Granddaughter said "when do I get MY Baby Hawaii 'quilt? So here is the second one getting done. isn't it wonderful?

Below is ___(having a senior moment cannot remember her name but will and will add it)  and she didn't want to start with the border so then she did some border and then got her girl larger and then got her items in there the right size etc. She decided to do a story about the places she has gone and visited....she also was doing an amazing cow but I cannot find those photos...nuts!

Below is the room or part of it...we had tons of room to enjoy creating!

Below is Biddy's quilt- she lives in Arkansas and she has a touch with contemporary looks ...isn't this gray wonderful? Her cow is awesome and she got most of her blocks done but I didn't get a photo....very cool!

Below is Elise's quilt-she is from Mass. and she has great color sense and fun. here she is looking to see if a cow will show up on this wonderful background! Her colors are super and she taught us all a lesson on value.

Below is Gayle's border blocks...she drives from Florida to California and stays for all five Asilomar sessions in Pacific Grove. She is doing that for a story!

Look at these dainty and beautiful blocks! I think these colors are fabulous and will be the perfect springboard for a story quilt! LOVE this!

Below is a border by Dwyta who lives in Spokane. I live in a small communtiy next to Spokane so we will probably work together when my life gets simpler. She might turn this into a cow. Once people saw the cow I brought they were inspired. Love the ideas in this creative and inventive class. Very nice having people who were willing to stretch and do something different!

I think these colors are so pretty! Just the ticket for a happy quilt with a great story!

We all laughed and LOVED this coffee pot by Margaret because if you turn it on it's side, it is a fish! Pretty wonderful, happy and inventive too! Margaret kept adding bits of black and white and it just added so much! Loved what the San Diego and oregon girls did...their tables were together.

Nancy Donahoe who has taken three of my ASILOMAR CLASSES Qwas working on an Antarctica quilt. It is her with wonderful penguins all around. She was appliquing it so it took some time. She has a fabulous pieced black and white and random colored blocks border. It is going to be awesome! Her drawing was adorable.

This was a wonderful and happy Asilomar Story Quilt week for me. If you would like to take my story quilt at Asilomar sign up for next year (in May at emptyspoolsseminars.com) because the year after that I will be doing a Christmas quilt workshop. Hope you will come and do YOUR story for all to see and enjoy!