Sharry Miller

Snow Dyeing

Rowan and I made our first attempt at snow dyeing last weekend. It was less than successful. What is snow dyeing, you ask? It's a method of randomly applying color to fabric using snow. Crystal clear, right? I first read about this technique a few years ago in Quilting Arts magazine, but I couldn't be bothered to find the article, so I went by memory. Okay, okay, here's what we did. First I tore a... Read more →

Spell of the Sea

I have been deriving creative inspiration from the sea lately. Jacques spoke the truth in this quote I've chosen for this week's quote journal page. Related articles Growth Read more →

Defining Success

Thane and I were talking in the hot tub the other night (sometimes I think the only conversations we have which aren't distracted by electronics and chores are in the hot tub) about success and the different ways success can be defined. The conversation was prompted by an interview I'd read in the most recent Quilting Arts magazine with Jill Rumoshosky Werner about her work. One of the questions asked her to discuss what she... Read more →

Woodblock Printing

Valdez Museum Exhibit Poster Inspired by the Dale DeArmond: Nondalton Legends exhibit at the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive, education curator Faith Revell and Wendy Goldstein, director of the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum, taught a woodblock printing class last Saturday afternoon. I, of course, took advantage of this opportunity to try something new, and to buy a few new tools. Faith standing in front of two Dale DeArmond prints in the museum's exhibit. Wendy... Read more →

Just Keep Trying

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...." It's not uncommon for me to adapt these lines from Finding Nemo to whatever repetitive, difficult task I'm doing, or for me to chant them to Rowan when I'm trying to keep her walking, pedaling, snowshoeing, or whatever. They were brought to mind again today while I was pondering a recent blog post by Maria Shell. Maria had written about mantras she uses when teaching quilting to help her... Read more →

Happy Holidays!

As often happens, this holiday season has been a bit crazy. Between going to Wasilla to spend Christmas with family and having guests for the New Year, I decided the best I was going to be able to do was a mid-season blog post. I don't think I'm even going to manage to write a few words for this week's Visual Dare and Five Sentence Fiction challenges (the links, however, will take you to my... Read more →

Crafter's Dilemma

Next weekend is the annual Valdez Christmas bazaar (more properly called the Valdez Emblem Club Christmas Bazaar since the Emblem Club, the ladies side of the Elks, hosts it). I've been busy trying to get an assortment of glass pieces completed for it. Today, I spent hours soldering six stars made of beveled glass together. I enjoyed doing it, but I'm exhausted. Photographing them laying on a table doesn't show them to their best advantage,... Read more →

A Creative Weekend

For the first time since Christmas, Mom made it to Valdez for a brief visit. Being in the same state, it seems like we should see her more often, but that 300 mile drive is just too far to drive very often. Happily, we've had reason to be in her neck of the woods a little more often. Mom, Rowan, and I spent most of the weekend playing in my studio. We didn't do anything... Read more →

iPad Painting Fun

I bought a new toy for my iPad last night, and had way too much fun playing with it. I first read about the app on a Sketchbook Challenge blog post by Sue Bleiweiss. She was creating some colorful patterns on her iPad. A couple of days ago, the latest issue of Quilting Arts magazine arrived in my mailbox, and in it was an article about drawing and painting on an iPad. I couldn't find... Read more →