Crooked Gulley Art Quilts

Here you have it.... The old Bird Island is on the left and the redo is on the right. I put a picture of the piece on a Quilting Arts  critique forum. One lovely lady wrote a whole page of comments and tips. I took it to heart and made some changes. The mail box is more aged as is the post, and the water has more motion and appears to have the tide coming in. I like it... hope you do too because it is FINISHED!!! I'm moving on. Hugs from Mary

I thought I might take a moment and introduce my quilting pal. She is the ever lovable, Miss Puny Puss from The Spencer Ranch in beautiful Etna, CA.  Her Highness is part Absynian, and thinks she is the cat's meow. She is named Puny Puss because she was the runt of her litter, and even has a kink in the end of her tale from being squished in Mommy's tummy. I am finishing a quilt for daughter, Amber. Guess who is helping me get it all together? Miss Puny Puss is a pest! Could she possibly think she's napping with friends? Who knows what goes on in a cat's brain, which happens to be the same size as a horse. (scary thought)  I made the mistake of keeping kitty treats upstairs in my quilting studio... She thinks it a grand idea, I think it a grand nuisance! But, she needs the pampering. Miss Puny Puss is an old girl now, 16! She doesn't bring as many lizards or birds into the house anymore. She prefers to be waited on... give her nice juicy raw chicken, shrimp, or ...

Another good learning experience and practice session. I solved the problem of the lettering on the mail box by actually using the alphabet that came with my sewing machine. I used a light gray thread and lower case letters. It just fit! What luck. I also practiced stippling and am pleased with my result around the border. It took a lot of time and PATIENCE... but I persevered. The binding is Phillip Jacobs "Shell Montage" It seems to have all the colors in the piece and more. The hardest part was stitching in the birds. You might notice that the sky fabric is different than the earlier post. Well, that's because I royally screwed it up when putting in birds. So, I fused another sky fabric right over it and started again. Only, this time I practiced a lot more on stitching birds. Thanks to all who offered suggestions for the lettering. I got some great advice and know so much more about fabric pens now. What a discovery process this all is. Even better, all of you f...