As some of you know I love to garden and it has been my dream to build a greenhouse. As soon as the snow is gone I am outside checking to see what survived the winter. One of my good friends gave me some of her leftover greenhouse plastic from her commercial greenhouse and I built the frame. It is approximately 8 feet wide and 10 feet long. After building the frame and putting the door on the first day it was so hot inside well over 100 degrees I had to make a vent in the tallest part of the west wall. Of course I quickly planted my new seeds and as murphy’s law would have it we got another cold snap and pretty much nothing came up for about 6 weeks. Now my little seedlings are growing and it is starting to look green in there. Building this greenhouse was a lot like making an art quilt. Dreaming the end result and then acting out the different stages to make it happen. While building it my husband would assess my progress with words of encouragement like: “I hope you built it strong enough you know we have a lot of wind here” and “What are you going to do this winter when the temp is 0 degrees or below”. But because it was my dream I continued to work on this project anyway knowing that it will all come together eventually. One of my goals this year is to look at some of my dreams and incorporate them into reality. It is one thing to have dreams and another to make them happen. Back to my art quilts. I have a design book I carry around in one of my bags to draw or dialogue about future art quilts yet most of the time I can’t find it. So it is time to assemble a bag that goes with me and my design book will be in it. Because my husband and I drive a lot there is time for me to muse about future projects but then when a fantastic idea comes I am franticly trying to look for a pencil and then draw on the back of a magazine or envelope before I lose the original thought. I think having my book with me will help. I should call this book “The book of dreams” because each art quilt starts as a dream. When I was moving my art studio I found my original design book and in it was a art quilt I did for my friend in Montana about 10 years ago. What a treasure that is. I still remember the moment I got the design, where we were and how I felt about making it. It took me 2 years to develop his art quilt but it was worth the moment when I gave it to him. He loved it. By the way that design was originally drawn on the back of an envelope and then transferred to my design book. When I look at my design book now it is a treasure trove of ideas coming and going in my artist world. So I am challenging all of you to get a book to keep track of your art designs. Take time to write down your future dreams and then incorporate them in your life now…