The blog begins

     I have always wanted to have my own blog where I could post my musings about the ideas and inspirations that permeate my very being.   My artistic personality and creative mind take me on a daily journey from insanity to wonderment.  The results of most of my ideas and inspirations never cease to amaze me.  Not because they are particularly great, but because once these ideas and inspirations become reality for me, and embody color, texture, space, and movement,  it is always amazing to step back and view the results, knowing that my 'insane ideas while lying in bed trying to count sheep, could actually become reality.

     I am an artist who dabbles in many mediums.  My favorite painting mediums are watercolor and porcelain.  To my eye, there is nothing quite so lovely as a beautiful French or German porcelain blank, painted to perfection with subtle colors and shadings that create florals so delicately realistic.  The 14" vase below is painted with hydrangeas.and edged in 24K gold.  All my porcelain is fired in a large kiln in my basement. 

One would think perfecting painting on porcelain would be sufficient for one person.  But, that's what separates me from the average person.  Here is where the insanity comes in.  Painting with a brush is satisfying, but painting with fabric and and texture is also part of my insanity.  The quilt below is my own design.  I call it 'Charming Spools'.  There are no two center squares alike.  Hence it is a 'charm quilt'.  The quilt is double bed size, and is hand quilted. 

I have quilted numerous quilts over my lifetime of 71 years, and continue to have a fabric
'stash' that could choke a horse, and quilt tops waiting to be quilted.  Since the advent of the 'long arm quilting machines', I have given in to having several of my tops quilted by machine.  They are lovely, but there is nothing to compare to a handquilted quilt.  Below is a machine quilted top that turned out to be exquisite.  It is a child's quilt, designed by a woman named Deborah ??? I will publish her name and credits in a future blog.  I found the pattern in a McCall's quilting magazine, and I believe it was called "How Sweet It Is".  The quilt is pieced, but has a 3 dimensional effect with the 'candy wrapper' ends that are actually 'free' from the seams of the quilt itself. I hand tacked them down so they would not flop in the wind, so to speak, then added the ribbon ties. It is one of my favorite quilts, and the machine quilting is wonderful.

So that is the beginning of my journey into the bloggosphere, allowing you to enter into my world of "Insanity to Wonderment". 

Until the next time,

Dottye