Cria at Southwind

Today we made a trip to see the cria at Southwind Alpaca Farm near Springfield, IL. Cria is what baby alpaca are called. This one is a baby boy. He's healthy, alert and very watchful of the visitors who are there to see him.

Catz Pizzazz

My quilt, Catz Pizzazz, won a Best of Show award at the Macon County Fair in Decatur, Illinois, where I new spend my summers. It is pink and black and features cats. It was the color that drew me to it initially. This quilt was also displayed at the Arizona Quilters Guild Annual Show in March.

Hoosier Hills Fiber Arts Festival

I had the good fortune of vending and teaching (and even signed up for a class myself) at Hoosier Hills Fiber Arts Festival held in Franklin, IN, just south of Indianapolis. It was a lovely venue with good weather and a good crowd. The class I taught was Beads, Baubles and BLING!! and here are some photos of student work from that class, which focused on embellished felting... I provided a wide variety of fibers for creative play including silks, velvets, taffetas, and feathers. The orange piece used a maroon velvet and three marbles for the dimensional effect, while the green featured Hannah silk. What great fun.

Nan Talley, of FiberAntics USA, is busily teaching the rolling process during the nuno felting class . Nan is a very experienced nuno teacher. Her website is www.fiberanticsusa.com

I also had the privilege of meeting Boyd and Jeri Hastings who live near Troy, Ohio. Boyd was doing demos of his needle felted projects, which as you can see, are of exceptional quality. In fact, he won the Grand Prize for his artwork . The pieces on the right are made out of treadle machine drawers. What a creative man. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more of him in the future. And the wool he uses is from his own animals. Such a talent.