The winner of the draw for Jennifer Chiaverini's latest book Sonoma Rose is...  ::drumroll::

Jody, of Come Tarry With Me!  Jody, please contact me with your snail mail address and I'll make sure the publisher sends you your prize!




and this is a new background for another Game of Thrones inspired piece I'm working on.

See you tomorrow for more progress!

Check it out!  It looks almost the same, just a little deeper, which is what I was going for.

And so then I worked on my quilting to see if I could make leaves in a way that doesn't make my trees look like lollipops.

First I tried to do what I think of as a standard kind of "leaf" shape.  It wasn't bad, all in all I think it'll be a fairly successful foreground if I were going to do a forest type thing.



And then I tried a more abstract sort of leaf - not really a leaf, but more the suggestion of a leaf.


I liked that much better, and I think it'll look good I think as a kind of background leaf - if I wanted another tree in the foreground to stand out more, for instance, this would be a good choice.




And then I tried this kind of pine-needly kind of evergreen sort of thing - which really - I mean this isn't a tree that exists anywhere in nature (lol), but this needle shape will be great for a future evergreen - and was really the most successful of the three, in my opinion.


So, this little journeyman piece had two purposes - to try and conquer the lollipop tree and to figure out what leaves work best. I like all of the leaves for their various purposes, and the lollipop effect was somewhat diminished, so all in all, a good experiment.  More to come in future, never fear! I still have THIS one to quilt!

Don't forget about the giveaway - you can still enter until 11:00 p.m. tonight - I'll announce the winner tomorrow.

'Til then,

A couple of weeks ago I was over at Andrea Harris' blog, "Millions of Thoughts" and won some cool stickers to give Jezebel a make over!



Now all I need is a nice orange Buddha to set it off - I don't think my purple and gold Buddha is fitting so nicely in my current sewing room decor!

And hey, don't forget about the giveaway!

I'm doing a Saturday post because I want to remind you all of the giveaway.  I don't have anything to say really, so check out this video I made instead:




and don't forget to check out the giveaway!
.

If you want to see it bigger - it's on You Tube as well.  (I couldn't make it embed for some reason).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojdswzVSNFw&list=UUj0Z_Ilf0ssDu_iM1a0SsQA&index=1&feature=plpp_video

I was contacted by Jennifer Chiavernini's publisher last week who asked whether I'd be willing to do a give away of her latest book, Sonoma Rose.


For you, anything!  All kidding aside, when I read the advance copy, I couldn't believe that I had been missing out on this series.  I'm not quite done the book, but I am REALLY enjoying it. Although it's part of a series, I haven't read any of them before and am still able to read it as a stand-alone book. Ms. Chiavernini's writing is very readable, and the story really pulls you in.


"Sonoma Rose picks up at the climax of The Quilter's Homecoming, when Rosa Diaz Barclay flees from her abusive husband with her four children and her childhood sweetheart, Lars Jorgensen. On the run from her husband, his mob associates, and the federal agents investigating his crimes, Rosa and Lars make their way north, first to San Francisco where they seek medical care for two of the children who suffer from a mysterious ailment that has already claimed the lives of four of their brothers and sisters, and then on to Sonoma County, where they find work and sanctuary at an idyllic vineyard and winery struggling to stay afloat despite the constraints of Prohibition.

Rosa Diaz Barclay endured years of her husband's abuse, but one day Rosa realizes it is time to leave. Taking her four children and a few precious family keepsakes, Rosa flees, only to receive some unexpected help from her first love: Lars Jorgensen. Together the two set out to make a new future for themselves in the wine country of Sonoma Valley in Chiaverini's emotionally compelling tale."

                                                                                               from Jennifer Chiaverini's site

If you'd like to win a copy of this book, please leave a comment here up until Monday, February 21st at 11:00 p.m. and I'll announce the winner on Tuesday.  The publisher will send the book directly to you.  And if you'd like TWO chances to win, then go on over to Chris Daly's blog at Dye Candy and enter over there!

Chris is a talented fiber artist and purveyor of wonderful hand-dyed fabrics!Take some time to look around while you're over there - and if you're here from Chris' blog; welcome!

Good luck!

As you know, my word of the year this year is "intention" and part of that is that I'm no longer going to be making things just to make them (with the exception of my work for And Then We Set It On Fire, although I'll try to incorporate that work into what I'm doing for "real" as well); but I also need to do what I call "journeyman" work, stuff that doesn't really have a purpose other than to help me improve upon something I'm having trouble with.

And you know what I currently have the most trouble with, don't you?  THOSE DAMN LOLLIPOP TREES!!!!!  lol  Why is that every time I try to do foliage I end up with lollipop trees?  (Rhetorical question).  Anyway...

You may remember this piece from back when I was doing the fugitive media experiments - this one was from the charcoal on fabric session and I decided to get away from the lollipop shape by building it up with acrylic paint.

Well, as you can see, all that happened as a result of that little experiment, was that I ended up with a deeper, more highlighted lollipop shape:
and I liked it better BEFORE I began fussing with it.  Oy.

See what happened next on Monday.  'Cuz on Friday, I'm doing a giveaway  in tandem with Chris Daly at Dye Candy two chances to win!  Until then...