Experimentation, Explore, Excite

The letter 'E' is very much on my mind this week. 

• Experimentation - I realized that I never shared my finished challenge quilt for the Art Quilts Around the World Out of Asia theme. As I have mentioned before, I am using these challenges as a vehicle to stretch myself a bit and experiment with new ideas as well as use some techniques that I don't usually use in my art quilts. The experimentation in this past challenge was definitely some hand stitching. 

• Explore - My fascination with hand stitching has grown since the Out of Asia challenge. My dear friend, Margaret Blank, suggested I look into the work of Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn. After viewing a YouTube video of their work, I ordered their DVD, 'In Stitches", which is introducing me to many exciting stitches. I expect that I will be exploring this magical world quite a bit in the next few months.

• Excite - Later this week I will be off to Norway and a trip to the Arctic. We are calling the trip a celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary (actually later this summer). In December 2011 we traveled to Antarctica and so began a fascination with glaciers and ice. It seemed fitting, having glimpsed the southern most region of our globe, to take a peak at the northern counterpart. This is most exciting. I expect to return with many, many photos and totally inspired to continue my series on ice.

Since I will be off the internet during most of this upcoming trip, I expect that this blog will be silent till later in June. Hope that everyone has a great month!