Quilting!

Well this post is going to be random... just like my summer. I was looking at the pictures I have taken this summer or that have me in them and most have to do with quilts or fabric. Interesting. I am too young for this. Either way, the pictures are not in chronological order. For example, the picture of Bryan was at the beginning of the summer when he was hanging out with people and now he has been engaged for a month... Sorry for the catch up.

This is a quilt by Adele (Lindy's mom)! We ran into this little beauty (well big and complex beauty) at the Utah Quilt Show at the Springville art museum. Yep she totally won a blue ribbon for this. She got the visual impact award, what that means I am not sure... but hey it has a blue ribbon so that is great!

Then we had to do a close up of me with a frowny face. This is Lindy's marriage quilt that she gets to have when she gets married. Meaning when she gets it, she won't have as much time to be with me. Thus the frowny face.

After I admired Lindy's quilt, I noticed this one next to it and I was reading the description and realized that one of my mom's best friends who has a visual impairment, hand stitched this entire thing with her eyes closed! Crazy awesome. So she got a picture too!

And then right next to Karla's (my mom's friend) quilt was the reason for the celebration. This is Sara's appliqued beauty that made it into the show. So Emily and I got to tag along with the quilt group to see it up. They probably regretted letting us come because we took a little too long in the gift shop. Emily found a print of this painting:

It is by a Russian impressionist painter, so even more reason for Emily to get it. And of course I had to stock up on art postcards.

We loved this applique. Cute little woman going out for a sunset swim.

Earlier this summer I tried to take some engagement pictures for Heather and Mitch, friends from Jerusalem. Yep they met there and now they are getting married next week! By the end of the summer there will have been 5 weddings of people who dated at the center! Crazy.

So, I don't know how to really take pictures of people but we did like this shot and they ended up using it so I guess we all got lucky! They are a cute couple. Sarah Jane and I have this theory that couples should kind of look like each other. Like since you are attracted to people who look like you, it makes sense that people would mistake you for siblings or something. But I think Heather and Mitch totally fit. Like you look at them and they look good together. Agreed?

Ha, I didn't mean for these pictures to be next to each other... :) These are my friends Chris and Bryan. They were in my ward at Raintree last semester. We liked to make food together. This was our BBQ chicken pizza delight... uh plus queso. Multi cultural night?

I exist

Not that anyone looks at this or anything... but in case you do... I did not die. I have just been having a good summer, that's all. And to share my good summer, I decided to share some of my new favorite summer tunes. Actually most of them are not new because I usually discover a good song at least two years after it was released. That is ok. My playlist is on the right side. You can click on it. Some of them have only hit my ears a few times meaning I can't guarantee that they are all clean or even great. Good luck.

Artists' Books

Hey there team. It has been a crazy two weeks. When I was in a studio lecture series class this past semester I heard about a workshop sponsored by the art department with 12 students from Liverpool. Our professor said it would be for 2 weeks where we would learn about book making techniques, various types of printmaking, and letterpress. I immediately was interested and I signed up to be participate. So that is what has been going down the past little while. Last week we had demos to learn how to use BYU's letterpress machinery at their new book binding studio north of campus, we learned how to fold paper in interesting ways and how to make use of certain book making tools, and then we learned how to use the lithography press. There were about 25 BYU artists participating, 3 faculty members, and then the 12 from an art college in Liverpool.

Planning our projects (I am the one in the front with the awesome posture- Emily would be ashamed- and the cute blouse of Lindy's)

Our project was entitled "Mapping the West." We were given a fold up paper map of the Grand Staircase Escalante area in southern Utah, which was to be the inspiration of our artwork. To more fully comprehend the map, we went on a 3 day camping trip to the area to introduce our Liverpudlian friends to the "wild wild west." It was awesome. We packed up in 5 big vans and it felt like a big family road trip. It was so interesting to introduce the English people to certain things about our culture that seem so basic to me. I think it is hard to appreciate where you live until you can see the perspective of someone else. They were so excited about things like red rocks, cheap ice cream, and the ability to just drive forever. Most of the students were "mature," their school is centered around making education available for middle aged people. Which isn't what I had expected but it ended up being really neat to learn from them and hear about their families and homes and what it has been like to grow up in the UK.

Devil's Garden

Where we had dutch over dinner in Boulder.
This man told us all about the Escalante area and showed us some sweet maps.

The Calf Creek waterfall in Box Canyon.

Experimenting with color.

Anyway, we got back from the trip and had 3 days to make our own art book about the map.

Helping JJ with his project.

I chose to use letterpress but not printmaking because most people wanted to use the print lab facilities and it was a little tight in there (plus I have no idea how to really use that stuff so it would have been a quick crash course). I decided to make a paper quilt kind of an idea.

This is the project description I gave to be posted on the Liverpool college blog:

"When we were in the Escalante area we were shown a map of Utah from 1868 that had a big empty white circle of where Escalante was. This area had been unexplored and left blank. This part of Utah was one of the last places in the US to be explored and made known to the rest of the world. I don’t really like that because to me Utah is the greatest place in the world. My ancestors found Utah to be a safe haven, they worked the land, my parents met here, and I did my growing up in Utah.
For my project I have been researching Utah maps. I have found a collection that spans from 1782 to present day. I want my project to illustrate the evolution of mapping Utah. At first I planned to show these maps creatively in layers or some way to chronologically show the history. But I realized that I don’t want the focus to be on the world discovering Utah. I want it to also show that Utah has always been here and why it is important to me, whether it is mapped on the world or not. So instead I have used the old maps I found as a springboard to my own exploration of what Utah has meant and does mean to me; poppies, rainbow arch, Lake Powell, the tabernacle, flowering pear trees on my street, Mormon temples, yellow roses, the lamp-posts in my city, my home. I hope my project will show how long the process has been for recognition, but if not- at least I was reminded of why I love Utah."

Ok it sounds a little cheesy, but I really do like Utah and since I have been at the Y, I felt like I have had to defend it so much. After spending so much time here with the Liverpudlians and having them so interested in Utah history and Alpine and the pioneers- I wanted to do something that would make this place personal.

So after 3 days of making our books, we opened an exhibit at the Y. It will be up until May 29 and then we will pack everything up and it will be sent to Wirral Metropolitan College for a show at their school.Some of my supporters for my very first exhibit.

Some of the other BYU students and our professor's son (if you want to make a new friend, teach him how to embroider. That is what we did the whole way back from southern Utah and then suddenly Ethan and I were fast friends and exhibit buddies.)

So if anyone is around BYU in the next month, come check out Gallery 303 for some crazy cool books and boxes and paper prints and letterpress goodness.

Sneak Peek

Here is a little sneak peek of why I haven't posted for so long.

Curious? No worries, it will all make sense tomorrow.

Seniority

In honor of Matilda Mae's special birth day!

When I work I can listen to music. This is great because I am connected to the internet and I can use pandora and myspace to explore the music industry. Such goodies I have found and in honor of Matilda's first birthday and my hopes in being the most musically influential aunt in her life, I want to share some of the great artists I have found. I would recommend looking up only their clean hits because I can not guarantee that all of these artists have the same standards as you.
#1 on the hit list this week. "I'd Rather Be With You" Joshua Radin.
also his duet with Meiko "Sky" or sometimes he does it with Ingrid Michaelson (so claims Sarah Jane)
#2 Holly Conlan "OK" such a sweet chorus
#3 Bess Rogers "I don't worry" - the message is a lot like #2 kind of don't worry about the economy, everything is ok.
#4 Meiko "boys with girlfriends" all of her stuff is great though. she just did a concert with Joshua Radin in Phoenix and I was wishing I was there because they sound beautiful together.

Those are the best of this week. I really like girl folk artists but I haven't really given boys a chance, but SJ has and she has shared her good news. Brett Dennen, Matt Costa, Andrew Bird.
Also, say you like indie folk girl artists, check out the hotel cafe tour website from last year. Or there album from Christmas "Wintersongs" is super awesome but it isn't winter music season. But that hasn't stopped my listening.

Here is a preview of Joshua. I think the scruff look is really working for him.
In other news...
Sick Sick Sick. Lindy and I went to Wendy's to celebrate the fact that we are done with finals. But guess what we realized waiting in line? WE ARE SENIORS. Is that sick or what? I swear I am not that old, but apparently 3 years at college gets you a senior status. Whatev, I guess I will be one of those super seniors forever because I don't even have a guesstimation about when I am going to graduate.

Easter and Birthdays!

Look, Lindy is really excited for my birthday. Welcome to the slideshow for my perfect weekend. My birthday fell on Easter this year and we celebrated my niece Tillie's birthday on the same day so it was quite the weekend of excitement!

Me and Sis. Karren who is leaving Provo and heading to Brisbane, Australia on a mission!

Sweet grandpa moment.

From left, sweet Kelli (SJ's cousin) who will be my room mate next year!, Em, Lindy, and Bethany -awesome girl from Jerusalem.

Matilda enjoys her All American Chocolate Cake! Like mother, like daughter.
The women prepare all the delicious desserts for the special double birthday celebration. Melissa requested chocolate cake because she knew Matilda would really want it. But I think that Costco cake is a little too rich, so I opted for a pound cake with strawberries and fresh whipped cream.

This is a little way of saying- Hey Lindy if you are going to take pictures like this on my camera, then be prepared to see it on the blog. He he.

Ok now a real one, I think this was taken during pre-party jitters. Lindy came early and did karaoke so that I wouldn't be alone, in case no one showed up and to give me my awesome present and some hints at how to be an awesome 21- year old.

More Jerusalem friends! Nathan and Mikelle and her room mate Emma.

Now this was on the actual day of! Sarah Jane showed up on my birthday wearing the same jacket that I had just gotten for my birthday. We had gotten them on the same day in different cities. For the record, ths is the second time this has happened in our lives. Are we great room mates or what? Besides the twinner outfit, she also brought some great new tunes and the cutest plaid shoes I have ever seen!

We had to take a big group shot with the combined family birthday party. We worried it would look like an outside-the-temple-after-the-wedding picture. It did, but uh here it is anyway.

Wow OK lots of pictures! Basically to sum up the weekend- it was awesome. Truly it was a perfect combination of great friends, great family, and great food. Plus it was Easter- so extra special this year. Thanks everyone for making it great!

April = Best Month Ever

My friend Julie has this great tradition where she celebrates not just her birthday, but her birth week. I am starting to do the same just a little bit. I listened to a birthday song this morning, I decided to throw a party and eat cupcakes, and have my parents buy me dinner tonight, and so many good things! I found this little beauty online... absolutely love it.


Oh yeah, speaking of turning 21, this whole celebration has reminded me a lot of Rory Gilmore, ya know from Gilmore Girls. She had this big thing planned out with her mom for when she turned 21, activities which I would consider inappropriate. Anyway, I have had the season 2 dvd box set sitting up on my window sill in my room for the past several weeks and I realized that it looks like a decoration, it is right next to the pictures of my family. Interesting... yes, creepy... a little. But Melissa and I were discussing this concept the other day. Lorelai and Rory have become like family to us. And some may think, "Oh my it is a TV show, go make some real friends." Which I do understand. But I have kind of grown up with this show. I started watching it in 9th grade and still at my ripe 15th grade, I continue to love it. The other day I saw it on abc family when I was flipping through channels and all the memories and shows came back to me. It sounds weird but it was a fulfilling experience. Ok this is sounding cheesy. I just want to say that even though people diss on Gilmore Girls and say they talk too fast and they aren't realistic and who really can drink that much coffee, I like the show. I like them and I like the lessons, stories, and laughs I have gained from the show. That is all.

Birthday present comes early

Big big news. I was pretty excited when I found out that Melissa and Matilda were coming to Utah. And even more excited when I found out their flight would arrive on the night of my birthday (and easter) (yep it's coming up- good luck coming up with something great to give me :)). But to my shock, I saw Melissa and Tillie with my mom in the parking lot of JCW's. They came 2 weeks early! Good gift or what ?!

Also, since I am home for a bit I was looking at old pictures of my life. And found this little beauty. Do I look like a sister missionary? Yes. Did I plan this? No.

Plus, I remembered about some photos I took last summer. I was trying to be all artsy one night when I didn't have anything to do. I walked around Provo and took some summery shots and actually ran into one of my best friends from high school that I hadn't seen for several months. It was lovely.

I rediscovered this beehive statue a couple weeks ago, and I love it!

Family picture minus Jesse.

This is just so South of campus- so I love it, but Lindy it is ok. South of campus is not for everybody. :) Raintree here we come!

Last summer, I was so obsessed with this complex. Every time I drove past I would look over so I could see all the pretty flower pots. Maybe it was a foreshadow of my future?

Or maybe this photo was... creepy!

I will live in this house some day.

Love the plant, stucco, then stone look. Well those are all the pictures for today, I should probably combat the weather and go to school. Have a lovely Wednesday and look forward to beauty in Provo very soon.