Category Archives: Baby Quilts

100 day Challenge, Baby Quilts, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Re Work, Stretched Works

Quilt Show

Hello,

I went along with Liz and Cheri to see the Genesee Valley Quilt Fest on Saturday.     The company was wonderful and the show a good one.   I am always glad to see that quilting is thriving.   I septically enjoyed the section of the show that was SAQA work.   I got some new ideas from those works.

 

 

And Yes, I did shop and purchased some fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheri and I went to Ellen Blaylock’s lecture too.I have always enjoyed her work and I loved the two Medusa quilts that she shared with us.    This quilt is  what Ellen calls Medusa’s daughter.  It was a fun and stimulating day for me.

The Pixies and  FAB also meant this week .

My big news is Sharon’s proposal for a show was accepted and we spent a day looking at the space and talking about what we want to do for that show.

Progress Report: Shore Line Washup  This work is 21″ X  24″.   It is my latest in the works from my Joyous Embroidery  class.     I read about using Tyvek  by painting on it and then applying heat to get distortions. I  got carried away with the paint and it was too thick so it did not melt too much.   I will try again and  be more careful with the application.    I added old belt buckles , wooden beads, and yarns on top of  one of my old rock pieces then stitched it down.   This work also got some glass  beads from Cheri added to the surface .   This work  is on stretcher bars.

 

 

 Lap 5    I completed this work this week and I am pleased with the results.   It is made up of leftover blocks from the 100 day challenge.

The quilting is liner in the same fashion as the blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 6     I put together this piece from   more  leftover blocks .    I need to pin basted it for quilting now.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 7  One more lap quilt  top that I put together on Monday and Tuesday.   It is pin basted from quilting and I plan to tackle it tomorrow.

 

 

 

Lap 8   I pulled these fabrics for the next lap quilt.   The print at the top is a photo print fabric that I purchased on line last winter.  I love the look, but I am having a difficult time descending how to use it.  It is almost too busy for me.

 

 

 

New Work  I decided to make a neutral background in nine patch for a little challenge that Sharon presented.

 

 

 

 

Shibui    I did these at Angela’s two week ago.   They were in the wash last week when I wrote.   I wish they were a little bit richer, but then we were  playing with lots of unknowns.

 

 

 

 

Asha’s Quilt  I am nearing the end of the precut blocks that my friend Ethel made.   I contacted her daughter and asked if she wanted one.  She suggested I make a baby quilt for Ethel’s great great Granddaughter Asha.   That is what this top will become soon.

The garden is calling at this time of year too so I  have less to to apply to quilt work.     I enjoy both processes.

Stay playful.

Carol

 

Baby Quilts, Begin by Choosing, Gratitude, How, Spirit, Why?, Yes

Moving forward

Hello,

I have had a busy week.  I went to the  Schweinfurth n Saturday  to the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting and got to view the Modern Quilt show as a bonus.     This study in white black and orange is apart of that show.

The  Meeting was exciting with lots of great talk  and fun work.Lori Lori shared her examples for a class she is developing and got feedback on how to make it even stronger.     Sharon shared her newest work (red) and one of her pieces   from her graduate show.   Maureen's work   I really like the additional  stitch embellishment that Maureen is adding to her piece.

   Pat showed off one of her little trip tics.   All built from one piece of fabric.  That fabric is some of her hand dyed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regina's work  Regina showed her work with  Hexagons.   We are a group with lots of interests and going in lots of different directions.    That diversity makes us all more open to new ideas and ways of  pushing forward.

Progress Report: How and Why?     This work is 33”w X 43” l.      As the title implies there are two words here.  It also contains lots of fabric that I have altered.   IMG_1510I am enjoying the vertical  quilting process.

Why?      This quilt is 30” w X 38” l.     I found the separation of children( kidnapping) from their parents  so upsetting  that I had to build a work about my feelings.   IMG_1504  That is part of the reason I use such a horrifying red for the text as well.IMG_1503

 

Beth’s Baby Quilt   This quilt is 42” w X 49” l.      I had a good   time creating this quilt and I hope the third child in this family feels as wrapped in joy as the first two. IMG_1470I used many different fabrics to allow this work to have different textures as a part of it. IMG_1489

Yes  IMG_1495   This is the paper pattern for the use of the word “yes”.     In this form it is still difficult to “read” the word and  that in my intent.  I am more interested in a developing a strong design than readability.

New work -Summer Heat   It was very hot last week when I was doing most of the work on this piece – that is the main reason for the title.   The contrast between the orange and blue helps convey that feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New- Collection 4   I start these works with lose blocks of fabric as the base for more materials.

IMG_1487 Sky     I am just building this piece and not as all sure where I  am going with it.

Label Cards: SpiritIMG_1482   The word Spirit has many meanings.  I  am thinking of folks from the past here and reflecting on how those ghosts influence us today.

 Begin by Choosing   The respect that John Smith   chose to show Pocahontas at the beginning of their relationship moved forward to effect  both of their lives.      Choice is power!

Gratitude

We all need to reflect on all that we have and express our gratitude for all of it.    Living in this country is a wonder!

I will be off at Quilting By the Lake for the next two weeks so there will not be any posts until   Aug 2.      IMG_1484  This is a stack of the stuff I have packed so far……

Enjoy the season.

Carol

Baby Quilts, Daily Practice, How, Ideas, Ideasa, Label Cards, Natural Elements, Sky, Why

Summer Days

 

Hello,

The yucca is blooming and the smell fills the air.

 

My big event for this week was to help hang the Associated Artist show at the Beaver  Lake Nature center on Sunday.    Aa Brial Patch It was fun and I enjoyed helping and talking with my fellow artists.   This show will be up until the end of Aug.

It was so hot on Wed that Liz and I did not dye.   I made screens with house paint and  interfacing instead.IMG_1452The light gray areas will allow the dye to pass through and print on the fabric below.

The heat has kept me in the studio and I have accomplished a lot.

Progress Report:   Linda’s Luck   This work is 36” w X 41”l.     It has been created with the use of the cut aways  from several other text pieces.   IMG_1456I used the vertical parallel stitching to do the quilting job.IMG_1457

Summer Heat     This in the start of one of my new pieces.     The center block is a scrap  of painted silk and the started the whole thing.

Beth’s Baby Quilt   This quilt is ready for the detail work now.   I have not done a baby quilt in about three years and it was a bit more difficult to get back into this process then I expected.IMG_1461

How and Why    The addition of the word why really helped this quilt work for me.  I am doing the quilting step now.  I am sure it will be finished by next Thursday.

 

 

 

 

 

 Why   I had to create a quilt using Why and this is it.  I like the strong contrast  between the text and the background.

Sky  IMG_1459I painted this piece of fabric to create  the base for my sky from the class I am following.

IMG_1451New work-  Collections 3  This is step one in the collections works.  I just lay out a few squares of fabric to build on top of.

Daily Project    I finished the   orange coring.  Then I moved onto the rickrack.  It is going very slowly as I am being so elaborate with the stitches I am using to tack it down are complex.

Label Card: Ideas

I think  that a good idea is like the cracks in mud, because it can lead and connect to so many other things.   One just needs to be open to that idea.

Enjoy the summer  and keep creating.

Carol

IMG_1445

Baby Quilts, Collage, Dad's Barn, Daily Practice, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), How

Busy Season

1 Comment

Hello,

I am enjoying the flowers of summer now.  I   Day  Lilies   bring a smile to my face , even though they do not last long.  They are so cheerful!

IMG_1404I have enjoyed a full week.  Last Friday I went up to Old Forge to the View to the National Pastel Show with my friend Barbara.    She had five works in this judged show and won the Prize for Best Use of Color with this work.   She also sold one of the other works to a fellow artist.  I am so very proud of her.  We stayed over night and took our time driving home  and stopped at the Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton.  It was full of wonderful art and the gallery owner asked Barbara to show there.    Barb left one of her works with the gallery and it is  in the front window.   She is doing well.

Tues the FAB group meant and we had a good time.    Sharon shared her newest work.  She is teaching a workshop on how to create this type of work at  Calico Gals.    It is full and she will teach it again in the fall as there is a waiting list.

Then on  Wednesday I went to Liz’s and we did a little dyeing.IMG_1421This year I plan to do two layers of color on all the works I create with dye.  So these are only half done.

Progress  Report:   Dad’s Barn   This quilt is 25” X 17”.   The background is one of Ethel’s starts that was in the bottom of one of my boxes and I loved the two colors together.IMG_1438I did the trees and  bird as free motion thread painting.     This barn was on dad’s last farm and falling down.   IMG_1437I enjoy doing free motion birds and though this swallow would go well with the barn.   I do remember a few flying around there  when I visited.

Ravens

I am glad I added to the quilting on this piece.  It hangs much better and is flatter too.IMG_1441

How I keep working with the text idea and in this case the word is HOW.   This is Ok but I am not happy with where it is at this time.  I need to do a lot of thinking and planning here.

Baby Quilt  IMG_1431I am working away on this project.   The week as been so busy that there is not a lot of progress.   This is the background and now I can start to add the animals to the surface.

IMG_1433Daily Progress  This project just moves along slowly.   All the orange cording is attached now and I will move on.

Collage

This is OZ inspired of course.  I am having fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Label Card   Tribes is about respecting Mother Nature and all she represents.  Native American’s  close ties to the land and  made for a healthy attitude toward our earth and it’s resources.   We need to keep this in mind as we pursue our lives.

Enjoy the wonders of summer.

Keep Creating

Carol

Baby Quilts, Dad's Barn, Daily Practice, Label Cards, Landscapes, Persuasion, Under teh Sun, Word Forms

Summer Solstice

Hello,

We have reached the longest light day of the  year.   I enjoy setting out of doors in the evening at this time of year to witness the fading light.   I will continue to pursue this even though I do really notice the  time differences  for quite  a while.    I just like how the color and crisp edges of the world fade as the light diminishes.

I also went to the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute with a couple of friends this week.     The show we went to see was the Kimono show of  Itichiku Kubota’s work.   It was a  beautiful presentation of the  rich  Komona’s  in  five rooms.  Many works were presented as a continuous flow of a scean or idea.  The Komona’s were all hand dye painted with great detail and many subtle color changes.

One room was full of works that move through the seasons in one continuous flow of landscape.    I loved the single hair bush painted trees on one of the Kominas.  Those trees were only about two inches tall.      Some of the works took over  a year to complete.  He did lots of shibori in his work too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a s room that had Mt Fuji as its theme and all the works related to that idea.  The skies on some of those fascinated me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One room was a creation story and it was so long that I could not capture it all it one shot.   The color was amazing and there was a wealth of texture and pattern in the works.

I just could not look enough.

I did go to Liz’s this week and we mixed new dye to begin our summer dyeing.  It has been too cold to begin before this point.

Progress Report:  Persuasion  

This work is 34.75” w X  74.5” l.   It is another one of the Text series.   I also did a wiggle cut background for this work.IMG_1398  I pebble quilted the words and reflective quilted the background.IMG_1399

Perception 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am done with the quilting on this work now and only need to do the facings.   I like how flat it is.

 

 

 

Dad’s Barn    I am doing the hand work on this piece now.  I have added a bit of shadow to the barn.  I also hand stitched in some more weeds to make it feel unified.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ravens In doing some re evaluating  I thought this work needed some additional quilting.  So I am stitching in all the blocks and doing reflective quilting in the raven squares.

IMG_1386Collections 1    This work got a bit of a rework too.  I am adding a ribbon edge to both of the collections pieces.  It will make them look more finished I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice IV   I continue to add to this work with hand applique of ribbons and such.

 

Baby Quilt    A friends daughter just had a child and I have done a sketch for the baby quilt.   The fabric is pulled now to  get it together.

 

IMG_1385New Work   I am ready to begin a next Text piece and I am auditioning fabric there.   This picture makes be realize there is not enough contrast at this point.

Label Cards: Under the Sun   We live on the blue marble and as it is solstice it is a good time to celebrate the sun and our universe.

Card 2  This work is pure play.  IMG_1384Sometimes one does’t  need a reason  to play.

Keep Creating

Carol

Baby Quilts, Dive In, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Make Visable, Ribbon Work, Running Red, Stretch Daily

Victories

 

Carolyn Hello,

This week has been a week with several little victories.  The first was last Thursday evening when I went to the Prevention Network banquet.    Just by chance I sat next to Carolyn and she wanted the quilt I had donated to the cause.  As this picture suggests she was successful in her pursuit of that goal.  I was as delighted with her achievement of that goal as she wasVictoria's woek and the Network got the benefit  too.       Friday was the Towpath Quilt show and I attended that event.   This is Victoria’s finished work.  I have watched her struggle with this piece and I think her solution is great.

IMG_3530 Another   event in my week was a trip to the SAQA meeting on Saturday.  The group was small but full of  exciting ideas.  My friend Chris showed two of her framed works.  It made me think again about working in that direction.Regina's work

On Monday I went to visit with another quilting buddy Regina.  We had not seen each other sense fall so she had lots of new works.  I really like this one were she used discharged paste and then embellished it with lock washers.  She had also completed four works from the IMG_3550

Carol Soderlands class in Soy Wax printing that the both of us were in at QBL II.    This shot is of the wonderful potato smasher that she brought to class and we all used to print with wax.    This shot is a work in  progress but sheIMG_3551_thumb.jpg also had four  she had completed.   They were wonderful insect type pieces that I truly enjoyed.      Then because I just can’t seem to get enough play time with other creative soles, I went to play with Cheri yesterday.  IMG_3576We had fun painting   on Tyveck.  I now have a new pile of  altered material to add to my stash.  I will do the melting of some of the surfaces tomorrow.  Ans as Cheri suggested one does not need to melt all the Tyvec to use it.

The Big success  of thisBaby quilt week was saving the Baby quilt I had ruined.  At the  Towpath show I talked with Angela about the problem of my marker marks.   I told her of the methods I had tried and she listened very sympathetically.  Her suggestion was I try Oxi Clean.   I stopped on the way home and got some at the grocery store.   It did not take all of the marks out on the first run( the fifth wash) but it didIMG_3565 diminish them.  I air dried it and Sue Ellen looked at it on Sat before we went to the SAQA meeting.  She said they barely showed and suggested I repeat the process again.  So I did.   To my delight when I went down and took the work off the line yesterday it was clean.   I only took six washes to do the trick.  I will give the quilt to the expectant mother and tell her that I know it will withstand lots of washing.   I am so very thankful for my encouraging friends.   They pushed me forward on this project until it was a Success.

Running Red 39" X 46"
Running Red
39″ X 46″

Progress Report:  Running Red   I am delighted with how this quilt finally came out.    The curving quilting did prove to be a big IMG_3571challenge for me, but I think it works in the end.    I used a variegated thread and that proved to be a good idea as well because some times it faded into the background and other times it stood out.  

I used  silk from an Obi, taffeta,  IMG_3572and old table cloth I had done deconstructed screen printing on and cotton in this work.    The quilting pattern of the swirls came from the Obi.   IMG_3569

 IMG_3553 Make Visible   I had so much success with the circular quilt pattern in  Running Red that I tried a  variation on that idea with this quilt.  I am going to write the words in the quilting pattern on the surface.   This shot is of the letter patterns I will be following.

Flags: Stretch  DailyIMG_3555I am working away on the flag challenge too.   What a great place to try new things and explore.  This time I did a little trumpto on the dark green figures.  I added green plastic to  give more interest and I cut new bigger stencils that I then spray painted on the work.  Lastly, I added the letters.  They are cut from a photograph and stitched down.      My talk with Susan made me feel that adding paper to the work was okay.

IMG_3554 Flags: Dive In  With this flag I took the paper idea even further.  The week before I had been dyeing with Ethel and I put paper under the work so the wax would be absorbed and I left it under when I dyed too.  So I had several pieces of beautiful papers on the desk when I was playing with this project.  I traced the painted sections of the flag on the papers and cut them out.  Then I stitched them down.  Ribbon Work

Ribbon Work    This work is moving along- but I have hit a snag with the fact that I have used the whole spool of yellow ribbon now.     I need to live with it before I decide what will be my next move.

IMG_3578 Label Block  The nightly work goes on with this project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Baby Quilts, Fabric Collage Constructions, Flag Challenge, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Make Visable, Name Game, Patti, Running Red, Spring Grass, Vernal Equinox

Mistake- Lesson Learned

 

064  Hello,

I have had a mixed week.  I spent Friday morning last week helping my friend Nancy and her Grand Daughter Jaelyn  do a little stencil work.  They were making a back pack and Jaelyn wanted her name on the flap.  We had a pleaset time stenciling  and as soon as she was finished, Jaelyn  pulled out the feather weigh and was ready to get back to assembly.

The  upsetting thing this Bears-001.jpgweek was a gift project.   I was making a baby quilt for a friends grandchild and I was nearly done.  I only had to add the strings for the balloons that the bears were holding and I would be complete.  I thought I really wanted to the strings to be strait so I pulled out a marker and drew the lines on to follow.  I was excited as I could see the end of the surface work for this project.081  I did not take time to test the marker and that was my down fall.   When it came time to wash out the marks I found that I had picked up the wrong tool and the marks will not come out.    I have tried several of the ways various folks have suggested from the inner078 net, but no success.    The quilt is ruined as a gift of course.   The pens do look similar, but that is an excuse.  I can go and purchase a gift, but some how that will not be the same.  I have no one to blame but myself for my haste.  I am disappointed with myself.  I am certain I will not make that mistake again.

Name Game III Patti Progress Report: Name Game III- Patti     This quilt is 14” X 26” .   I am so enjoying this processPatti- close up 1 as it really challenges my design skills when it comes to putting the blocks together.  One change in direction can 093change the whole movement of the work.      I like all the texture of the raw edges too as they seem to add a different type of movement to the final work.     There is also the challenge of using letters as a starting point because the shapes of letters involve strait lines and curves in ways I do not think ofPatti before cut drawing usually. This shot is of the work before I cut it into pieces.    I am dreaming of a new challenge using more then one name.  This could add to the spice of the project.

Vernal Equinox  Vernal Equinox This work is  22” X 25”.    I call this building process fabric collage.  I used lots of fabric textures in this work. 097 There are velvets, valures, satins, cottons, corduroys, and brocades here.  The 098wading and folding adds its own texture to the end product too.  I was trying to fill the surface with visual interest and I feel it was successful.

Running Red085I am to the quilting stage of this project so I am only showing a detail this week.  I used the  pattern on the red silk as my inspiration for that quilting pattern.  As it is turning out the double knit on the  old table cloth( on the left here) has some woven patterns in it that are similar to the swirls of the silk pattern.

077Make Visible is the title I have chosen for this new work.    I spent and afternoon with Susan last summer trying out all her mark making 076tools and  in doing that I wrote lots of different quotes.   I had pulled out a bunch of fabric last week and this piece seemed to go with one of the collections.  This shot shows how I star the assembly of this type of quilt.   I lay out were I want the big blocks and then I begin to fill in the spaces around them to create the top  using 2.5 ” and 1″ strips.

075.jpgFlag- Spring Grass   I got a call from Susan this week.  She too is struggling with this flag challenge that we created.  We agreed that for both of us, starting with the central image or center of interest  first- is not the way either of us works.   I am not comfortable filling in around the graphics we are both working with.  But I will persist as that is how growth takes place.  I only finished this one this week.  I am still struggling with the text as a part of this challenge too.

Label Block083  The beat goes on with this project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Baby Quilts, Daily's, Diva Meetings, New Iris, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs)

Seeing July 3, 2014

1 Comment

SKetch - CopyHello,

As we head for the 4 of July celebrations I have been thinking about seeing.   I read “We don’t see what we see.  We see what we want to see.” by ALan Fletcher.    My first response to this was surprize.  But as I though about it I agreed.  I then though- Oh this is not so true of artists- we pay more attention to what we see.  Then to test myselfshoes I tried to visualize my walking shoes that I wear almost daily and recall how many holes were there for laces.    Five I though with confince…. but when I checked there are six, although I only have my laces in five of the holes.     So I drew them as my drawing  exercise  this morning.    This will help me really “see”  them I though.    And that is true, I really did see them,  but in the  looking at the shoes I shut out all the things around the shoes.   I would be quickly overwhelmed by the visuals if I did not do that editing and selecting of things in my world.   LIz's-work In the end I have to agree with Mr Fletcher- we all are confinded by our choices of “what we want to see”.

This week was the first Tuesday of the month of July so I went to meetings.   QuEGS meant and we all had lots to share.  Liz is making progress on her memory quilt for her friend.  All the blocks are made now and she will begin the final assembly soon.    Linda's work

Linda C. showed us her crazy quilt and amazed us by flipping up the work to show the  paper and that showed the planning pages she had under the  sewn squares.  Several of us admitted  we would not have planned out as much as she did, but would have let the process tell us what to do next.   We all have different procedures BJULY3LInda's-drawing we follow as we work.  This work will be a stunner when it is complete.     The good thing  about seeing the processes of others does  help us all of us to think more carefully about our own work and consider if we can improve by following the  the examples around us. ANGELA 's Batic

Angela is still being influnced by her tip to Hawaii.  She showed us several beautiful  silk painted flower pictures  this week.   BJULY3Cheri's-work

Then I was off to my DIVA meeting.  Cheri shared her  “Miss Liberty” wall piece and her new lady lizard( in the for ground)   She mixes fabric and yarn in her sculptures and I think that is  a great idea.

BJULY3ALIC - CopyAlice had her fabric books to show us.  They are so delightful.  I enjoy how she mixes commercial  fabric images- the water lily- with her own hand painted materials- the turtle. Ruth's

Ruth assembeled all the units she had created in the class she took last month.   They do make a pleasing little collection I think.  And what a great visual review of  techniques to have on the studio wall so one does not forget about them.

Yarn Progress Report:  New Iris   I am happy to say this work is now complete.    I took it to both meetings on Tue and asked for ideas on the beards for the iris.  I had thought that purple was the color to use, but the others felt yellow or white would be better.

New Iris 28" X 22.5"
New Iris
28″ X 22.5″

I tried both colors before I settled on the yellow.     The  yellow sure does pop forward on the purple flowers and draw the eye.  That is what contrasting colors are suppose to do, but I do not think of it most of the time while I am working.

NewIriscl1I like the depth this quilt has – all the applique on top of what I once thought was  a completed work, helps that idea.    I will try to keep this more in mind in the furture too. New Iris Close up 2

 

 

 

 

 

West-Window East Window     This work is done now .  I made this quilt to put over the  window in the east bedroom in the winter.  I used a special batting that has a foil liner in the center to reflect heat into the room and cold out.   There is not a lot of quilting on this work.  I only stitched in the seam lines( in the ditch) to connect the top and back.   I would have done a lot more machine drawing on the closeup1surface if it was not for  window use.

 

 Baby Quilt    This one got completed this Lauren's-bably-quiltweek as well.  I was surprised when I finished putting the last hem stitches in last even and realized I had finished off three this week.    The bad news is I have no new beginnings.

I try to be practical with baby quilts and make them so they can be easily washed.  I also add a sleeve so  they can hang on the wall if  the parents choose.  This  is Baby quilt close up -the second child for this family so there are two bears, one for each child.  The bigger one is helping the smaller bear and that  is my way of saying that they should care for one another and the older one is a part of the process.

I like the simple -baby quilt close-up3outline applique technique that is easy to use with this style of quilting.  It goes  quickly when the layout of the parts is done.  One only needs to think about the layers of  the pieces so there are as few starts and stops as possible.  Here I did the mane first, then the ear, then the body, and last I added the reins and the eye details. Dadily news 3

Daily News       I can now see that it will take a lot of time to finish this piece.  It takes a seven min. toDaily News2 machine add the velcro  spot, and stitch around the two units , leaving an opening.   When I set down to do the hand  work  I trim the corners  and turn the block right side out, before stitching it closed.    I Daily News2get between four and five of them done in an hour.      I know I am working as fast as I feel comfortable withDaily-News1– but the process of finishing up seems a long way off at this point.

Please leave me a comet in the area provided at the bottom.   I would love to hear your thoughts.

Keep Creating

Carol

Baby Quilts, Daily's, Dusty Roads, New Iris

Choices June 26, 2014

Flowers Hello,

It is  another  gray and rainy day here.  There are lots of reasons to feel down.  I am having trouble with the tension on my sewing machine.   It is very humid  and my hair is droopy. The sky is gray and all this rain even makes the Martha Washington  Greniums  hang low.  In my effort to empty some of  the excess rainwater from them , I accidenty spilled it all over my feet and my sandels are all wet.  Inspite of  all this stuff I still  feel happy.  I am making progress on my projects even with  the thread problem, because all the rain keeps me in the studio a bit more.  The birds are singing and I even saw one taking a bath in one of the mud puddles on my walk in the rain.  I noted too Dusty-Trailsthe circular patterns of falling rain in one of the puddles and thought it might make a good starting place for a quilting pattern.      So why I feel so good?   I believe it goes back to what my Dad always use to say to me as a kid” It ‘s not what happens to you that matters so much as what you THINK about what happens to you that matters.”    I am choosing to be happy about the possibilites of today.

Progress Report:   Dusty Trails    I am to the quilting stage of this project now.  I was tempted to just quilt in the ditch, but staying in the seam lines with the quilting  seemed like a cop out.  So  I am using is wandering stitch pattern that  reflects the seams instead.  My title has more to do with color than the stitch pattern. New Iris

 New Iris  I am all done with the hand applique of the new leaves and flowers.   I was considering adding some of the fuzzy trim to the flowers as the beards of the iris.   The color has more red in it than the existing flowers but I really like the texture.   I guess it is again a  decision I can only make after I try it  and see how it looks.   That  really is the best approach any way.

baby-quilt New project-Baby Quilt   My niece had a new baby last week  and so I am busy creating a baby quilt for the new child.  He as an older sister so I am putting two teddy  bears on this one.   The three butterflies allow me to add quilting for stability in the sky.  One might also be able to teach a little counting to a little one with this work.

 New work- East Window    I am creating a new window cover for the east room window.     WhenEast-Window I work on these types of quilts I   first  do a wrogh  layout of where I think some fabrics will end up.      I am trying to start quilts now using fabrics I have altered in some way.  This time I used some marbleized  fabric, a piece from the soy wax class, and some painted fabrics.  When I have selected these materials, I chose  things that work with them.     I think of  the second choices as fillers and I cut them into strips of one and a half, two and a half and three and a half inch startssections and sew them into long mixed units.   This method  means I can just add the units  to the fabric sections as I go along and do not have to keep stopping and cutting new fabric.  This method does create some unused material at the end of the assembley.  But I always just add that to my scrap basket and it becomes part East windowof the material I use in my scrap happy quilts that I give as fund raisers .          I always enjoy my time doing the assembly process of quilt construction.

 

 

 Daily News  I have finished the base for the Daily’s now.  It is a black rectangle with 30  black velcro  units on it.   I put the quilt on the door to my studio so I see it first thing every day and my new habit has become to change the layout each morning. Daily-News1Daily News2    Its a fun exercise and it means that I finish  several more  blocks every evening during the news like before.

Daily News2 Keep  Creating

Carol

 

Baby Quilts, Blue Bugs, Goddess Series, Shaving Cream Printing, Stencels, Three Pooka

March 28, 2013 Daffodils

Hello,

The flowers really seem to brighten my days  so I am sharing them with you too. Daffodil’s   really are so bright!  The sun shine we have been enjoying the last few days really pulls my spirits up.  The buds on the trees are starting to get really fat too so I am sure the young leaves will pop out in the near future.    This last week has been as full as they all seam to be for me.  Friday I went to the Turquoise Studio- that seems to have become a bit of a habit that I do enjoy.  I shaving cream printed a second layer on some of the work from earlier in the  week.  Every thing is all pressed and sorted in my “starter basket” now- ready to server as a jumping off point for a new quilt.   The same problem is still a part of me- more ideas then time.  But I will keep trying to master that.   Both Pat and Beth were at the studio  this week.  They are both working on pastels for a show that is coming at the beginning of next mouth.  Beth was working on her project upside down so she could really see the colors and shapes she needed to add to her work- that is why she ended up on the floor.

Progress Report:  Baby Quilt  This work is also coming along nicely.   I have not done a baby quilt in such a long time I sort of got carried away with the creatures.  I think it will fit the jungle theme of the nursery.    I enjoyed doing all the zig zag work even though it is very slow.   I did the  machine binding step yesterday and it will take about an hour plus  to do all the hand work to attach it to the back.  Then only the sleeve will remain and the off to wrapping and a new home.

West Window Quilt  This quilt is all done now.    I enjoy using up some of  the extra blocks that remain from Scrap Happy quilts in these projects.  Matching color is not an issue for me either so when I start the next one I will only keep the blocks and strips as unifying factors.    One down and three to go and this project will be complete.

Blue Bugs  This project is the result of two playful experiments.   I had read about putting paper on fabric with matt medium.  So I did that with a torn  dictionary page.  The text was too strong so I painted color on top to obscure the words.   The second experiment was the blue  turquoise and purple fabric- that has the bugs on it. (  More about that step later.)  That fabric was created from whipping up after other work and then scrunching the fabric  into a cup were I poured  a mixture of turquoise and water on top of the fabric and  into the cup.   That is why there are darks and lights in it.  Both fabrics have been shuffling from one pile to another for weeks when they ended up one on top of another.  They looked like they could work together so I started pulling fabric to go with them.  I ended up  seeing that it need  more light and my eye fell on some of the stamp printed fabric from earlier this year, so it got put into the mix as well.   When I started putting the bindings on I realized that the two big units needed some embellishing.  The work hung on the wall for several days until I was tiding up and one of my stencil notebooks fell out on the floor.  The book was open to the insect.   Problem solved!   I got excited by the insect stencil and drew two more- both too large to use here.   They will appear in another work.

Three Pooka   This is the last work played with this week.  It grew out of that  Starter Basket that I mentioned before.  I had spilled it and was putting things back. I selected figures for  this piece first.  I stenciled them about four years ago.  I had been to a Donna’s Creativity Retreat  and I was experimenting.   All the others that I had created had long gone into pieces.  These three were weak by comparison until I got out the squeezie paint and added hand drawing detail to them.   The canvas- the two big blue green rectangles,  are also very old-from a class I took with Elizabeth Bush  over ten years ago.  They seemed to go together too- so I was off and running in a new direction.  It is spray basted and all ready for quilting.  I will start with stitch in the ditch and then do free motion around the pooka’s.  The  last bit of quilting will be to “draw” pooka in the canvas areas in thread.

I hope spring is filling everyone’s heart.

Keep Creating

Carol