All posts by admin

Briar Patch, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Foggy Dawn, Label Blocks, Out the Window, Parts, Silver Growth

Purple Touches

March 11, 2016 admin

Hello,

It is really feeling like spring here and this wonderful shot of Nancy’s quilt in progress really expresses this feeling. I love all the flowers and the bright colors. She is amazing with her use of more and more pattern. This shot is only about one eights of her quilt. It was all we could show on the small space of my studio at the FAB meeting yesterday. Judy is working away on her sweater. She got some of the yarns from Patti . Judy is such a good knitter she does not even need a pattern to do all these fancy stitches. We had a good time yesterday.

I finished up my entry for the SAQA auction this week. I had a good time creating this little twelve inch square piece. I enjoy and support this organization.

Progress Report: Parts This work is finally complete. I sure enjoyed doing hand stitches all over the surface. I think I will give this work to the local camera shop were I purchased the camera that the parts are from. I got the new camera from them too when I dropped this one an broke it.

Foggy Dawn This work is the second half of older work. I took Corrine’s ‘s advice and did the quilting in a spiral patterns.

The glitter that is on this work was on the fabric when I purchased it. Lots of us like glitz.

Silver Growth I am almost finished with this project. I did all the free motion silver thread work earlier this week and I only need to add the facings now.

Briar Patch I am to the stage where I am adding the leaves and black berries to this quilt. I added most of the black berries first. I did not realize how many leaves I cut until I had them all pinned to the surface . It sure makes it pricklier at the moment.

Out the Window I was having so much fun with the turquoise and purple combination that I did a second quilt using this color combination. I lightened it up and did not go for much of the deep green of summer here. It is a lot closer to the colors of spring and windflowers and snow. Something that I saw on my walks this week.

Label Block #43 Slow and steady get’s the job done on this one.

Looking back over this blog I see lots of spring purple here. I sure am influenced by the season.

Keep Creating

Carol

Briar Patch, Diva Meetings, Foggy Dawn, Label Blocks, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Silver Growth, Trickle

Ice Cycles

March 3, 2016 admin

Hello,

Long ice cycles are one of the sure signs of spring to me. The weather keeps shifting from cold to warm here and that means melt and thaw and melt again.

I had lots of meetings this week. Sat was a meeting of the Mixed Group. It is always very stimulation and enjoyable to see the work of other artists and get their feed back on one’s own work. Tuesday the first of March so both QuIG’s and the Divas meant. Liz found a weekly offer by Moda on Their web sight were they publish two new blocks ever week. She has a note book already and four blocks are completed.

Corinne shared her print work from our last play day at Angle’s.

At the DIva meeting Kristen shared her shop entry for the “Row by Row “ show at

quilters corner. Donna shared her Bernie Sanders doll.

Noel showed off her piece for the “ 15” show that the Divas will have this summer. It was inspiration to see what everyone is doing. I am so very lucky to have such wonderfully creative friends.

Progress Report: Trickle This is the forth stretched quilt that I felted first. For this one I did not add any thing to the back of my woven wool fabric before I felted it. This meant that it all stretch at the same rate and so it ended up much flatter. Now I need to get the corners of the work to be smooth and flat. It seems there is always something to learn.

Foggy Dawn I have taken the advice of my fellow quilters from Tuesday’s meetings on how to quilt this work and did it all in swirling patterns. It is now ready for the facings.

Briar Patch I am having fun doing free motion raw edge applique of the leaves on this work. I will also do free motion to add the black berries .

Silver Growth I started this work because of the gift of a beautiful top that my friend Regina gave me. The deep purple with the silver work on it at the bottom. Now I need to figure out how to ingrate this work.

New Work I have enjoyed laying out the balance of this work. Now I am ready to begin the sewing step. I will fill in the white areas with narrow strips of fabric as I always do.

Scrap Happy I am to the step in this quilt where I have put the blocks in rows. I need to stop now and make a back for this project before I can go forward. It will make a good quilt to pass on.

Label Block # 42 I just keep working away on these little pieces.

Keep Creating

Carol

#3, Briar Patch, Briare Patch, Circling Circles, Coastal Color, Felt Work, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Parts, Trickle

Creative Power

February 25, 2016 admin

Hello,

This photo is an example of the marks of wear and tear on the local pavement that winter seems to inflict. The pot wholes this year are big ones.

Why should we all use our creative power? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compass ate , so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money . Brenda Upland

I find this quote a very powerful one and I really believe it to be true. Creating takes us out of ourselves in a way and makes one feel more alive. I know I lose track of time when I am working and I have heard others say similar things. When one is building something the mind will not allow you to consider destruction. What a different world we would be living in if everyone was creating!

FAB meant this week and we all enjoyed each others company. Patti showed off her die cutting press this time. She gave me these three little fabric birds. Judy was working on yet another sweater. This one is red with great patterns on it.

I finished my entries for the 6X6 show in Rochester and I mailed them out on Tuesday. I always have such fun doing these little works that the gallery sells for $20.00 each as there fund raiser every spring.

I tried ice dyeing with ice cubes out of the freezer this week. I had heard about this and it means one can work all year long. I will do my own comparison study.

Progress Report:Coastal Colors III This work is 20” X 16” .I am enjoying the building process that goeson with these pieces. In this case I felted to begin with and then I built up layers of yarn, silk paper ribbon and fabric bits on top. I added a layer of batting before I started the stitching on this one to help it stay flat before the stretching.

The stitching adds even more dimension to the surface. The work seems to grow under the needle as I work on it. I like the textures too.

Trickle This work is also a felt built up piece. It is only 12” X 12”. I used a heavy wool for the base of this one and built up the felting on top again. There is no extra batting in this work and I think that because of the heavy wool. It stretched out nice and flat. I plan to do two more using this technique and size. Then I want to experiment with cotton fabric for the base of the felting and see how much distortion I get using that fabric as my base.

Circling Circles I am to the quilting stage of this project. I have finished all the circle quilting and I am now working on the wavy part. It is a nice contrast to the open circles.

Parts I can see the end of this project now too. I have all of the camera parts stitched to the surface and I am now doing the embellishment part of this project.

New Work This is not really new work as it is the second half of a piece I cut up. I thought I had an idea for how to finish it. So after studying it for a while I started working by building up a bit of Angelina to use with it. The Angelina suggested black berries to me. My mind went off on that direction. I made some vines to put on top and then I would add the black berries…….. But it was too much of a good thing and so I have dropped this top back to the unfinished pile and started a new work.

Briare Patch This is the result. The vines are the arched units. They are stitched to wash away now. The new base is not completed yet and it is under the vine unit. I have learned to go with the flow of the work , so this will grow from the idea. Next week there will be more.

Label Block 41 One more block is complete and I am just pushing forward on this project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Circling Circles, Hand work, Label Blocks, Parts

Deep Winter

February 19, 2016 admin

Hello-

We are in the deep cold of winter here in central New York. Ice storms and then snow on top. I was fascinated by the ice marks on the tree yesterday when I went out for my walk. There was melting water running down the trunk under the ice too so it added to the textures. My aunt Aileen gave me a wonderful gift this week. She presented me with a quilt that my great Grandmother Todd had made for my grandmother Ester as a gift for the birth of her third child, Leonard McElhinney in 1928. I was so very surprised and honored by the gift. All the little hand stitches are wonderfully done. As a child I remember sleeping under quilts made by this great grand mother and how I felt like I was protected by a layer of armor that no dream monsters could penetrate.

Progress Report: Parts This work is getting a lot of attention at the moment. I have just about stitched down all the camera parts now and I am filling in all the hand stitches for interest.

Scrap Happy This work is ready for binding and the quilting now. Both of those steps take about an hour a piece on the machine. That work will get tackled this week. Then when the folks who want them for fundraisers come calling there will be at least two to choose from.

Circling Circles I did collages last week and so I was ready for a new project. This one fills all three on my monthly challenges. The red shobori is Ethel’s fabric. The blue with the purple print is some fabric I silk screened last year. I also used (the pink) some of the fabric I snow dyed in this one.

New Work I visited with my friend Beth this week and she was working in curvier cuts. So I got inspired and started one using that technique again too. I put a part of one of the bodices that Regina gave me in this one. I am having fun.

New Felted Work I have built up the base for another abstract work here. This time I did not back the wool that I felted into and although this is much heavier wool than I used before when I tried this technique, I do not seem to have and much warping as I had with the first ones. Doing the machine build up on top will be the real test.

Label Block 40 Hurray- this block makes me one third through this process.

Keep Creating

Carol

#3, Blown Blossems, Label Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Truquoise Street Studio

Snow Marks

February 10, 2016 admin

Hello,

As I look more carefully for marks I see them every where. These marks on the deck were the snow has fallen through caught me eye on my walk today. I like the dark light contrast of these marks too. I will be out of town for a few days starting tomorrow so that is why the post is early this week.

I continue to be part of lots of shows. This shot is of my work and that of Mimi at the Associated Artists of Central New York show that is hanging in the Manlius Library for Feb. I also have work at the Turquoise Street Gallery until Feb 15.

Progress Report: Blown Blossoms This little work went together quickly when I got going. I tried doing the free motion drawing on batting and thick upholstery fabric. It worked well, and I may try that technique again. The red fabric is some I created in Pat Pauly’s class last fall.

The brown and orange print I did a few summers ago in Independent studio at QBL. I developed the quilting pattern from the floral print fabric. That came from another friend.

Coastal Color III I am ready to stretch this piece now. This time I did the free motion work on top of the felted step with the addition of batting behind the whole thing. It worked great and did not warp much at all. Thank goodness I have lots of friends with lots of helpful ideas to help me solve the problems that I create for myself.

New Scrap Happy I finished the scarp happy piece from last week and started to assemble this new one. This is just the first six rows of the top and only half of that is shown in this photo. It will be my contribution to the local Public Television Tel Auc in the spring.

New Work This work is based on a collage that I did last week. It has already taken on a mind of its own as it is twice the size I intended it to be. I am having fun with it non the less.

Label Block # 39 I got more labels from a friend through the mail this week. It is fun to get goodies that I really want to use . She sent enough for a whole block of just her contribution.

Keep Creating

Carol

#3, Blown Blossems, Diva Meetings, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Uncategorized

Marks

February 3, 2016 admin

Hello,

It has taken me a while to decide on my word of focus for this year and I have considered many and tossed several away. But yesterday I decided that the word would be MARKS. I make marks f all sorts as do all humans. Think of the margins of note books in high school. Perhaps that is disappearing as kids spend more time on the computers , IPhones and pads, but I doubt it will ever disappear totally. Animals leave marks of there passing in the mud , snow and dirt. As do machines. Like skid marks that many of us created with our bikes. As an artist it will be a focus that I feel I need to pursue.

I sure seem to have a lot on my plate as we move into February. I did finish the Upstate Cancer Mask and returned it to the hospital before the dead line. I chose to treat the whole thing as a big

three dimensional needle point project. I can hardly wait to see how others treated this challenge.

This week being the first one of the month meant that both QuIG’s and Diva’s had meetings. The turn

out for QuIG’s was small but full of exciting projects. Sally is all ready for Valentine’s day with some wonderful cards for her grandkids. She also created some wonderful heart shaped book marks and bird candy holders.

Liz had just finished a on line class and she enjoyed doing personal historic explorations as well as learning some new techniques.

The Diva gals were busy too. Regina is building on her doodles and adding color and bead work to them. Noel is doing old fashion Paining work with her wonderful silk kimono fabrics.I can hardly wait to see how this develops.

Lori and Kirsten both too a class at the Schweinfurt with Victoria Finley Wolf last month and did strong works with very different feels. It is the wonder of the old patterns, that different fabrics, prints, colors and sets can make such different solutions.

I am getting ready for the “heART” sale at the Turquoise Street studio next week on Friday and Saturday with more images. Please feel free to come between 11 and 8 both days. The studio is through and behind Eureka Crafts in downtown Syracuse NY.

Progress Report: Parts

I am still adding parts to the surface of this work. I can see the bottom of the box that I collected all the little bits in, so I will need to add more hand work as I go forward.

Coastal Color III

I am ready to start building on this third felted base. I am trying to avoid the warp by adding a felted back unit to the work for this stage.

New Work I made a bunch of collages this week and I selected this one to be the beginning of a new work.

I have pinned up these fabrics and I think they will be the start. I do not know what color I will make the contrast pieces.

New Work I pulled out this big piece of print fabric and I feel ready to build on top of and add to it. A lot of the base work is already done for me I think.

Blown Blossoms This piece got a lot of attention this week and I am nearly ready to add the facings and finish it up. It is a small so it too went together quickly.

6X6 I was at a bit of a loose end this week so I started my entries for the Rochester 6X6 show. I decided to do little paper quilts this year as I had not done any work in this style for a while. I really like working this small as they come together very quickly. Two done and two to go.

Label Block #38 I just keep stitching away on these.

Keep Creating

Carol

# 2, Coastal Color, Coping, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Label Blocks, Moon Fall, Parts

Winter workings

January 29, 2016 admin

Hello,

The week has been a full one with lots of activates. This work is by a high school student and a part of the Scholastic Art show now going on at Onondaga Community Collage. I was a judge a few weeks ago and I judged animation and film. I went to see the other works that made it into the show. There is lots of wonderful work, and it is well worth the effort to go and see it. The FAB group also meant this week

. Nancy has added two more boarders on her quilt. I love how she mixes so many different patterns in her work. She is also so very good at making all her points. A characteristic that I admire as I find that process so very frustrating. I like a challenge so much more than a repeat activity. So I decided to be a part of the Cancer Project. This is the cancer mask that I will be altering in the next weeks. I have not decided how or where I will go with this one yet, but I really think it is fascinating. Another thing I did this week was take four quilts off to be a part of the Cabin Fever Quilt show that hangs in Betts Branch Library for the month of February. I also hung a show of 15 pieces of my work at the Briar Patch in Ithaca New York yesterday. I am sorry that I did not take my camera so there are no pictures of that. Because of all of our snow and the wonderful stash of dye that I inherited from Ethel, I attempted some snow dyeing this week. I had to call on the knowledge of my friend Angela to get myself going on this project . The photo is a shot of the first batch under plastic starting to melt. I learned from this first one to cut way down on the amount of dye one adds to the snow as the navy blue took over and there is no yellow at all on the final piece. The process takes a long time- about 24 hours for all the snow to melt because I am doing it in the basement were the heat is low and I may be packing too much snow in the bucket. Anyway the second batch looks like the yellow and green will remain a part of the color. And I did not add any navy to it. Everything is washing out now with a third bucket starting to melt. Look for images next week. Another thing I started this week was my 6X6 entries. That is for the Rochester Art fundraiser. I decided to use this paper as the base for a paper quilts for this project.

Progress Report: Coastal Color I

I really enjoyed working on these felted base works. I ended up adding a fabric back and sleeve to this one to finish it. Thanks again to the gals in QuIGs for there suggestions on this project.Mixing the machine work and adding yarns and fabrics to the surface sure made the process a joy for me. I have one more in the grouping to complete; I am excited and I have not even started adding anything to the felted surface yet.

Coastal Color II This felted work is stretched over stretcher bars with a batting in between. Again the QuIGs were the source for this solution to the finishing problem. This solution creates quite a different feel for the finished work. But again I got to do the thing I love the most with the machine drawing and the fiber additions. I just love to build up the surface.

Moon Fall I have enjoyed working on this project as the world out side has become one of grays, white and black. No thread build up here but lots of fun free motion work. I used some of the same thick thread techniques that I developed with the leaf and Autumn quilts I did earlier this fall. I mostly followed an edge when I could to make the quilting patterns. I appliqued the moon on top without any quilting of its own so it would float above the surface a bit. It seems to do that to me.

Coping Quilting away on this work was a nice contrast to all the free motion work I was doing this week. All the quilting here is strait lines with stops and turns it it. I first made a series of rectangles in silver and purples threads. Then I used black to make more quilting that filled in the open ares and added a little interest to the surface. It does the job I think although I do not find it overly exciting in the end. I do like the colors and that is a good thing as I have the second half of the original to deal with next. This one does have quite a different feel I think. I need to look and think for a while on this one too.

New Work I am tying to mix some of my altered fabrics with commercial ones here. The some of commercial ones are Ethel’s and the flowers are from my friend Tanya.

Parts is Parts I continue to stitch down the camera parts onto the surface here. What with the finishing of the first three quilts this week, I have not done a lot of hand work on this project.

Label Block # 37 The labels got their share of hand work though. I am looking forward to my February closet clean out as I think I will be able to add some more labels to my collection when I do that project.

Keep Creating,

Carol

I could not resist adding one more Scholastic entry to this blog.

# 2, Coping, Label Blocks, Moon Fall, Parts, Scrap Happy Quilts

Snow Bound

January 21, 2016 admin 2 Comments

Hello,

I was snow bound for three days this week as we got hit by lake effect snows. I felt like hibernating- but spent time in the studio instead. The snow measured 18” on my deck and the shoveling was tiring even though it was light snow. There was just so much of it and along with the wind, being out doors was cold work.

Before the snow I spent a

day with QuIGs gals doing screen printing at Angela’s house. We had fun and I got a new batch of fabric to work with.

I was also invited to be a part of the Valentine sale and show at the Turquoise Street Gallery. That sale and show will be Feb 12 and 13 from 11:00 until 8 both days. I created a few little images in fabric with bead trims for that show. It was fun and it got me in the spirit of doing Valentine stuff. Liz had a really cute pin she had created last year that was a Valentine Cookie in felt. I was thinking about them and so I tried to create my own.

Here they are in a tin all set to be sent in a few weeks to my gal pals.

Progress Report: Moon Fall I am to the quilting stage now and enjoying the free motion part of the process. I decided to use three colors of thread. A variegated red to rust, a blue and a burgundy to outline the shapes of the dyed areas. I am about two thirds done with that now.

Parts I am stitching down the camera parts by hand. I am also embellishing them with hand stitches to add interest. The process is slow and I only add about two pieces and evening, but I am enjoying it.

Coping I pulled out this top that I had started last summer and did a second look at it. Then I decided to do the quilting in a block like fashion. I am trying not to be too pridctable with that step and so I over lapped the starting squares and now I am building in more lines and little squares to the surface.

Coastal Colors II I continue to build on the top of the wool work here. I just enjoy adding more texture to the surface. The colors become so much richer I think.

Scrap Happy I had a whole box full of left over squares form all the scrap happy quilts I have been making, so I put them together in random rows and I am now sewing/quilting those rows together. It will be a colorful one when it is done.

New Work I pulled out these pieces of fabric and I will start a new work using some of them. I have not chosen a focus fabric from this collection yet, but when I do I will know what the next steps will be.

Label Block # 36

I got a letter from Judy this week full of labels and I am thrilled. It is always good to have help form one’s friends.

Keep Creating

Carol

# 2, Autumn Leaves, Creative Assistants, Label Blocks, Little Foxes

Winter Ice

January 14, 2016 admin

Hello,

I am paying special attention to ice as I slipped and fell last week. I am fine. This shot of ice along the street really shows how water shrinks as it freezes. I love all the layers of air pockets in this shallow pool along with the leaves for extra texture. I took lots of photos of ice this week so there may be another ice quilt in the future.

Angela is having a play day in her studio tomorrow and we will be printing with interfacing stencils. I got carried away as usual with my preparation and made 4. I will show the results next week.

Progress Report: Autumn Leaves This is the last of my leaf series for the time being. I had a good time doing bobbin work on this piece as well as the free motion quilting of the leaves on top. The out line of the leaves was done with cord that was so thick it could not go through the eye of any of my machine needles so that is why I put it in the bobbin and drew from the back. I then changed the thread and did the vanes from the front. I also used this one last piece of printed fabric from one of my trips up at Mill Site Lake . The rest of the leaves are from trees in my yard. There are two different types of Oaks and Maples.

Coastal Color 2 I am having fun adding to this felted piece. I really like the build up of the texture with stitches and yarns for color.

New work fuchsia This is the third top developed from a collage. I also meant all three of my personal monthly challenges with this piece. The challenges are: 1. to use some of Ethel Fabric in a work. 2. to use some fabric I have altered in a work 3. to use a collage as a starting point. Now I need to decide how I want to quilt this piece.

New Work green This top is not quite finished yet,but close. I have always been interested in how things work and seeing the insides of stuff. So when I got a new camera last year because I had dropped the old one, I did not throw it away. I finally took it apart this week . I love all the little plastic and electronic parts and so I decided to make a top to stitch them too. It will be a stitching challenge of sorts.

Little Fox I made this little fox pin this week too. After receiving positive feed back and having two friends ask for pins of their own, I decided to make a tutorial on how to make this fellow. It is started and I will finish it this week.

Creative Assistants I finished off 30 creative assistants this week. This is a shot of the last ten. It sure goes to show how easy it is for me to improvise.

Label Block #35 I just keep working away on these little guys.

Keep Creating

Carol

Autumn Leaves, Coastal Color, Creatibve Assistants, Label Blocks, Natural Elements, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), William's Quilt

Winter

January 7, 2016 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

The woman who works with her hands is a laborer. The woman who works with her head and her hands is a craftsman. The woman who works with her hands , her head and her heart is an Artist. St Francis of Assisi

This quote really spoke to me this week. My wish for all my friends is that they be Artists. I spent a lot of time with those artist this week. One day I went to the Turquoise Street Studio and work with three other gals. Beth was doing pastels, while Barb and the other two were painting. What a lot of fun to work with this energy flowing.

Then because it was the beginning of the month the QuIGs and Diva’s meant too. The gals in those groups help me so much when it comes to problems I have with my techniques. I learned a lot about mixing different types of fabrics this week. Corrine was showing off her daughters aromatic jewelry at the meeting and she even sold one. Then yesterday the FAB group meant at Patti’s house. She shared beautiful fabrics from the far east with us. There was wonderful weaving in all of them with lots of color and gold threads. My one other event this week was to be a part of the judging of Scholastic Art. I so enjoy seeing what the middle school and high school students are doing when it comes to art. It was very enjoyable.

Progress Report: Creative Assistants While I was at the studio with all the other artists I worked on these little guys. I was only stitching them closed and adding a pin to the back, but I got 20 of them done. I added the paint when I got home and they are now ready to pass along to others.

Williams’s Quilt I finished the stitch in the ditch quilting on this project this week. There were lots of lines to do. Now I am ready to start to do the binding. It will take about and hour to do each side. It is a bright colorful work – just great for an active little boy.

Coastal Colors I made progress on this piece this week. It is done as far as the machine work is concerned. But I am concerned about the ripple. The gals at the meetings all had great suggestions about how to deal with that and I learned from them.

Hopefully I can stretch it well enough to get it flat. The bad news is I already laided out and started two more that I fear will have the same problem. But the next time I try to mix felting with machine drawing, I will know better then to put stiffener as a part of that step. It does not shrink at the same rate as the wool and that is the source of the problem we think.

Autumn Leaves I am doing the free motion drawing of the vanes of the leaves now. I am having fun and I have learned how Mother Nature designs each species differently.

Label Block #34 I remember taking the Pooh label off a blanket for Alexis when she was little. She is 20 now. Do I hold onto things for a long time or what?

Keep Creating

Carol

Cre-8

All posts by admin

Purple Touches

Ice Cycles

Creative Power

Deep Winter

Snow Marks

Marks

Winter workings

Snow Bound

Winter Ice

Winter

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer