I'm having so much fun watching the webcam and the nesting great blue herons on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds site I thought share the link for the nest cam: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433

Caution: it is very addictive!

Pinterest is getting a lot of discussion lately. I see it as a lot of like-minded individuals scouring the internet for things that might interest me and putting them in a convenient place so the I can quickly review them!

I try to always pin responsibly and credit sources for art work. There are images that I love but the source cannot be identified so I don't pin them. Check out my pinterest boards at http://pinterest.com/suzanengler/

While in art school, I drew myself, my family, fellow students, and numerous uninhibited nude models. When I learned that the final project for the life drawing course was a self-portrait, I just could not face another charcoal drawing. Luckily I had just attended my first quilt show, The Houston International Quilt Festival, so I had an idea! Texas Big Hair, 1994, 36" x 30"

The instructor did not mandate the medium so I turned to fabric to “draw” the final project. I used black and white fabrics to create a background reminiscent of paper and charcoal; fused images formed the portrait. The hair needed more work to pay homage to true Texas Big Hair but my professor was intrigued with my unique approach. More importantly, the door to the fiber arts was opened.

Original Glamour Shot of me and my daughter in 1991 use as inspiration for self portrait.

I did not have a pattern, I just sort of made it up as I went along.

Evidently I chose REALLY fluffy batting!   I think that was popular back in the '80s. It is 30 years old and it is still about 1 1/2 inches thick!

My next quilt? It was made about 17 years later (life got in the way!).

I have a box filled with photos, sketches, and prototypes.   However, I find that they do me little good if they are hidden away in a box because I tend to forget about them.  I want to see them and be inspired by them.  What to do?   Make them digital of course!

I take a picture of each item and then upload all the photos to the computer.   Once I have digital images, I put them all into one directory on the computer.  The files in this directory will be displayed individually as my PC's background.  I also add inspirational photos taken at quilt shows, vacation, etc., to this directory.

On my computer, the path to define the background is start / control panel / appearance and personalization / change desktop background.   Disclaimer: the path on your computer may be very different!

Select the directory with the images and check each photo that you want to be displayed as a background image.   I have it set up so that the images are shuffled and displayed for 3 minutes at a time. Then the next inspirational image comes into view.  

The model for this piece was a black Angus bull calf at my parent's ranch in Oklahoma.

Resolutions help me focus on the future and while I am not one to dwell on the past, I do like to take stock of the previous year. Sometimes I am surprised how much gets accomplished while I am busy dealing with everyday life.

I won't share my whole list but here are a few highlights.

• I finished 17 quilts in 2011! Who knew?
• I sold 4 art quilts and displayed my work in 3 galleries.
• I worked on an art quilt with a group of artists that I respect.
• I had quilts, photographs, and a haiku displayed at the Houston International Quilt Festival.
• I homeschooled 2 teenage boys.
• I drove three 1000 mile round-trips to visit my parents.
• I attended vegetable gardening classes.
• I spent time with dear friends.

Even if you don't do New Year's Resolutions, I encourage you to pause at the beginning of 2012 and write down 50 or 100 of your accomplishments from 2011. You might also be pleasantly surprised with all that you have accomplished.

The Cherrywood Fabrics’ vote for Best in Show:

October 26-28, 2011:  Display of Actual Quilts for Online Quilt Auction (MD Anderson Main Campus, Houston Texas)

October 26 - Nov. 9, 2011:  Online Quilt Auction

November 3 - 6, 2011:  Display of Quilts at International Quilt Festival Houston

Thanks to Cherrywood Fabrics for sponsoring this challenge and to Kreinik Threads for donating the threads used in my quilt.   I sure hope we raise a lot of money for cancer research!

Note: My previous posts on the design and construction of this project are here. 

The idea is to link back to the blog who picked you and then add give the award to 5 of your favorite blogs with less than 200 followers. Then they can do the same. The only difficult part is narrowing the list down to 5 blogs! Here are some of my favorites:

Sally is painting today - Oil Paintings
http://sallytharp.blogspot.com

Nancy G Cook – Fiber Art
http://nancygcook.blogspot.com

Dawn Browning – Fiber Art/Mixed Media Jewelry
http://dawnbrowning.blogspot.com/

Martha Tsihlas - Fiber Art
http://delsolquilts.blogspot.com/

Sue Smith - Ancient Artist: Developing an Art Career After 50
http://ancientartist.typepad.com/