Cheerful. Joyful. And Rest.

I am such an armchair traveler. I love the luxury of curling up with a travel magazine–Budget travel, CN Traveler, Sunset, VIA magazine, or travel/photo blogs will do quite nicely.  Nothing too complicated. 😀  I love looking at the places other people have discovered on their travels and adding to my list of places to go.

At any given time, I have a place that’s on my mind.  Sometimes, the time is just right for a trip.  Today, I found myself revisiting the gallery for another fabric fix.

I love these shows…I get to meet awesome people, see all the new goodies, and be around other quilty people and talk quilts for hours–how cool is that?

Has your scrap basket been bothering you ‘cuz it’s been getting a bit full?  Stress no more. In this exhibit, you will see many practical way to use most sizes of square and rectangle.   Soon you’ll see the bottom of your bins and empty scrap baskets.

It’s like cruising Etsy and art blogs looking for interesting pieces to decorate my home with.   (The “Winding Way” templates had been in Michelle McMicken’s stash for a couple of years just waiting for the right opportunity.)

The primarily blue–ranging from green to violet– fabrics in the Laundry Blue series, orchestrated by The Fiber Chix,  alone inspire me.  (Blowing in the Wind below is by Kathy Shaker, May 2011 featured quilter.)

I, like many others, seem to be drawn toward CERTAIN FAVORITE COLORS.   Rub-a-Dub-Dub on the High Seas is made up by Virlene Arnold, of Storm at Sea blocks, a pattern she had never done before but wanted to scratch that itch.

It doesn’t get better than this–eight remarkable quilters inspiring and challenging each other to create such art form.   Beautiful fabric color in the following quilt by Pat Jones.  Her Awash design is from Margaret Rolfe’s  Black Opal in the Spectacular Scraps book co-authored with Judy Hooworth.

Next…Tumble Dry,  a show’s stopper, by Bevalee Runner. I love scrippy, scrappy quilts…any kind of scrappy quilt, in any kind of color combination. However, this one is in MY favorite.

Look at these beautiful curves.  Bevalee used the Laundry Blues fabrics to make a class sample she was scheduled to teach from Wendy Hill’s Easy Bias Covered Curves book.

Here, Patty Gates got her pattern idea for Wash Day Fresh from Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston’s Collaborative Quilting book.

Lady Liberty Does Laundry was made by Tammy MacAuthur from Karen Stone’s paper piece Lady Liberty Goes to Hawaii pattern.  I love Tammy’s philosophy:  My favorite rule to the challenge was there are NO rules!   She’s one wise cookie.

Some quilts please me more than others. But…that´s the point, isn´t it? I am still learning. I will never stop learning though as I keep on exploring new arty paths and renovating my creative “pad!” I hope–with practice, that SOME DAY–my quilting may be at least a fraction as good as these talented quilters. How will I find the time is another matter. It’s often hard for me to find a big block of studio time to set myself up for success. Anyone has a sound game plan?

There you have it, folks, my kinda mini-break. It can be as little as drinking some tea in silence. It make me feel like I have more time to get things done, than if I hurry through my day.  This is a way of resting my brain so I may be available to my children when I switch to a task that needs more brain power.

Sorry it’s taken me a while to post about The Fiber chix. Better late than never, right?  One of my favorite things to do is to self-enable and, at the same time, inspire others. Feelin’ the urge?  That’s one of many reasons why I still love coming back to this place.  Hope you find some creative sparkles today as I rediscovered through these eight splendid Fiber Chix–exploring artistic aspects of contemporary quilting and thoroughly enjoying each other’s company.  Both Kristin‘s featured gallery

and The Fiber Chix exhibits will be up ’til April 5.  So hop on over Quiltworks and see all the glorious details up close if you can.  I promise you it will be a blitz.

Oh…while I’m at it, don’t miss next Quiltworks’ gallery reception exhibit featuring Novel Idea Quilts:  Rules of Civility by Amor Towles on First-Friday Art Walk. Mark your calendar: April 6. Read the novel. Invite a few friends (or a dozen). There ain’t no party like a party at Quiltworks.

I have had so many works-in-progress lying around over the past month or so, it’s been kind of silly. Life isn’t always perfect but the way I respond to life makes all of the difference.    At least I try.   Do you take “breaks” out of your day? What do you do to bring you cheerfulness, optimism, rest, and joy?

Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!

(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)