Category Archives: Curvie Cuts

!7" Blocks- Ethel's scraps, Curvie Cuts, Label Blocks, Natural Elements, Scrap Happy Quilts, Summer Meadow, Teasil II, Xavier Wood Ice

Could be Spring

February 23, 2017 admin

Hello,

It has been so warm the last few days that the plants are a bit confused. These Snow Drops are proof of that. I am enjoying it though.

There is a class at QBL taught by Elizabeth Bush were one is encouraged to rework pieces that are one is not happy with. I have been looking at First Fall and feel it is not as successful as it could be. So I took the plunge and re did the leaf by adding orange to it. I feel that this rework helps the final piece. The center of interest is stronger and draws the eye to one of Maureen’s “ Golden Points”.

Progress Report:Teasel Trouble This work is 24” X 28” inside the frame. The frame was a gift from my friend Patti. These are the original teasel heads that were too small that got lost on the first background.

When I made this one I made the background simpler and in a rusty color to show off the heads. ( the color in this photo is awful! the color in the full shot is a lot closer to reality)

The smaller heads in the background are made from silk paper.

Sharron’s Challenge This top is all assembled. I find it to be a little quiet and not to interesting so I decided to add a cherry blossom limb on top of it. I drew a limb on wash away in magic marker and then built a limb on top. The white paper shapes and the pink/orange shape represent the flowers. I plan to add more.

Then I did a second look and decided that the limb was too light in value so I started a second one yesterday. It works with the background much better. It is made from the sleeve of a tweed wool jacket that Tanya had given. It does not take over the background either. I am about half done with the build up of the limb and then I will add pink blossoms.

Wiggle Cut Being a frugal person, I decided I would still use the first limb on a different background so I built this one for that purpose. I will slice this vertically and shuffle the parts and then add the fist limb on top.

Summer Meadow I am reading Layer, Paint, Stitch by Wendy Dolan. This is my attempt at the first exercise she suggests. It is built up with layers of white and off white textured materials. I need to add some more lace flower forms on this before I go onto the next step.

Samurai Romance I am also still working through Stitch, Fiber, Metal and Mixed Media by Alysn Midgelow-Morden too. This is the first step of the second assignment in that book. ( the pods were the first) I still need to attach more cording to the surface of this section so I can go onto the next one. I am enjoying thinking about how I can apply these different little ideas to my own work.

Bird Land

This is 12” X 12” and it is my entry for the SAQA auction for 2017. I only need to add a sleeve and label to the back and it will be ready to ship. I enjoy the organization and I am glad to add to the fund raiser.

Xavier Wood Ice I continue to do the free motion work on this piece. The build up is slow as it is so large and I only work for an hour at a time on this process. I find that if I try to do more it becomes very sloppy and I feel like I lose control.

Scarp Happy All the rows of this quilt are done now. I started cutting pieces for the back yesterday so now the end is in sight.

Label Block # 108 With the completion of this block I only have twelve more to finish this step. I will do a recount this week to make sure that my numbers are correct. I am getting excited. The bad news is I still have lots of labels left over…….

Keep Creating

Carol

Circle Challenge, From Dry Falls, Label Blocks, Pond Water, Red Nebula, Spotted, Wild Patches

Supporting a Friend

December 16, 2016 admin

Hello,

It’s a brisk 10 degrees out side this morning and the heat from my neighbors chimney is clearly visibel.

My big event for this week was to be a support a person for my friend Noel at her Trunk show at the Schweinfurth on Sunday. This shot is of Donna and Noel.

As it turned out most of the work was displayed on the walls and I only ended up holding a few pieces. It was very impressive to see most of her wonderful work hanging toghther.

These works represent years of effort on her part and they show how she has taken an idea that she loves and run forward with it playing with new color approaches and ides along the way. She even explored using an artist’s work as a jumping off place for some of her own work. I sure cant tell what work is based on another artist. A lot can be learned from this process.

She dyes most of the silk she uses in her work too so there is an extra layer of personal involvement in what she does. It is one thing to see works by others one and two at a time and quite a impressive and wonderful thing to see them all together. I am glad she is a friend.

Progress Report: Spotted This work is 39” X 38” and is one based on a collage. I am seeing the end of this type of exploration for a while. Doing one a month is not necessary any more. Not only have I learned how to build a work without strait lines I feel my quilting has improved with this series of projects. I also feel more free in my approach to design.

Red Nebula I am getting ready for a solo show in Januray and as a part of this process I am looking at older works. I did this piece a while ago but did not finish it. I decided to stretch it and add it to the mix of possible works for the show. Working with older pieces and doing this additional work makes me want to return to this subject and do further exploration.

From Dry Falls This work too is one I did over a year ago. When I check this piece for the stack of works to be considered I discovered that I had not stitched the label to the back. So I had to do that to complete this project.My labels include the title, size, my name and add.

Pond Water
This work has not had any attention for a few weeks and it too came to the top of the pile this week. I am enjoying adding embellishments to the top with hand stitches. I have seven pieces that need hand work on them at this time so it may be a while before I finish this one.

Wild Patch This work is in the washer at the moment. I have stitched all the patches to a solid purple background fabric with may raw edges on the top. I want to see if the frayed parts add a texture that I can use and control in my work.

Circle Challenge I This is a personal challenge I am working on. I want to use circles as a stronger element in my work. I am to the hand step here and the threads on top are what I am thinking about using for some big hand stitched lines on top to hold the work together.

Circle Challenge II

This is the second on in this challenge. More circles and I am still using the cut away as a part of the design. I will trim it to the same size as the first one. Beyond that I have not made any decisions about this second work. I know I will have to make some modifications as I am out of one of the fabrics in the circle section.

Dog quilt Our local dog pound has called for little quilts to add to the metal cages that the dogs are put in to add to there comfort. I had started the quilt, but lost my intention so it was just a top. I thought it would do better to go to this cause then sent in the box of UFO’s.

Label Block #98 One more done. I am happy to say my embroidery thread stash is shrinking as I work on this project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Creative Assistants, Felt Work, Hand Bags, Hand work, Label Blocks, Pond Water

Falling Back

November 10, 2016 admin

Hello-

The winds of autumn are stripping the trees of their golden bounty now. I have been out raking for two days. It is cold and soon days will be spent inside. This last week has been a busy one out side the studio for me. I spent Friday mixing dye with my friend Liz. We will be a part of open studio at the Schweinfurth during the up coming weekend. Play is in my future.

Then this week end I was part of and Exhibition and Sale at John Doweling’s studio for two days. I sold three little framed works and I am very happy about that. The work is still hanging there although I am not in attendance. It will be there until the middle of Dec.

Progress Report: Hand Bag I did put together a hand bag this week so I guess I did finish one thing.

Pond Waters Because I was away so much there is not a lot of progress to report. I continue to work away on this project in the evenings and it is building. Hand work is just slowbut very calming.

Circle Play This is my self challenge to play with faced circles in a creative way. I have a lot to learn with this process. I have challenged myself to do seven works using this striped circle as the main unit.

Wool works 1 2 3 I started these works last week but did not put too much time into them yet. This work is # 2 only because I numbered my sketches as I did them. I am sure it will get a better name with time. This one is just about ready for some machine stitching.

#3 This one is ready for fabric and machine work. It really is not much different than last week.

#1 is still at the prep for wool stage.I have drawn the areas our for the color changes but that is all. I will get to that later today I hope as the felting machine is out on the desk and waiting.

Felted Landscape I did make progress on one wool piece though. This too is in an early stage. I will keep you posted.

New Work I did pull fabric for a new pieced work too. This one will be a lot simpler then the pieced work I have been doing of late. I hope I can stick with that attitude.

Label Blocks # 92 & # 93 I can see the end of this project. There are only 27 more blocks to complete.

Keep Creating

Carol

Bird Land, Curvie Cuts, Fall Fires, Felt Work, Label Blocks, Leaving the Land, Natural Elements

Time

October 27, 2016 admin

Hello,

This week has been the usual one full of events and I did not get as much time in the studio as I usually do. That realization has made me think about how I am not guarding my time as I really should. I need to say “No Thank you” to protect that studio time. Not and easy task as I so enjoy the company of others. But as I grow older I realize there is not an infinite amount of time and one must choose how it is spent.

This shot is of Patti teaching Nancy how to use the loom. We all did a little weaving at the FAB meeting this week. It was fun and now I have a new “Mug Rug” as Patti calls it.

Progress Report: Leaving the Land This work is 20”l X 26” w, got it stretched this week. When I showed it to my friend Diane she said it looked like an air view of lakes and mountains. So I knew I was successful in what I was shooting for. I do enjoy working with the fleece and silk paper in combinations with yarns and threads to build up the surface. The surfaces become so very deep and rich.

Bird Land I am to the machine quilting stage with this work now. It is going smoothly and I am a little beyond half way done at this point. It is enjoyable.

Fall Fires This work is ready for stretching at this point. Hopfully the ripples will pull out when that is done. I had to make a run to the Art Store to purchase additional stretchers. I could have used what I had and lost a lot of the surface, but I decided that this piece deserved as much of the surface showing as possible. I have to keep telling myself I will not do this again and there fore it is worth the effort to do the job properly.

New Work The curvy cut work I started last week got some hand work attention this week. I pulled out all the fibers and threads that I thought might work on the surface and started working. The big size of this piece means I will be at it a long while.

Label Blocks # 88 and # 89 Two more done. This new effort to do two a week is good as I see the pile building.

Keep Creating

Carol

Bird Land, Curvie Cuts, Fall Fires, Label Blocks, Leaving the Land, Queen Anne's Lace

Fall Color

October 20, 2016 admin

Hello-

On my walks this week I have been enjoying the fall colors. There is such a wide range. I love the oranges and reds as they contrast with the greens, but the browns and rusts have a beauty of their own. I was stopped by the deep purple\ blue I found on the ground here. So many colors! There are also lots of mushrooms in various colors out now as well. I have taken a lot of photos of the trees and bark too. I am sure I will have a good supply to begin some new work with. So keep your eyes open and while you are enjoying the season and perhaps you too may become inspired to start a new project.

Progress Report: Ethel’s Nine Patch I

finished the double bed quilt this week. I sure enjoyed working on this project and thought of Ethel every step along the way. The back is all done in her black and white scraps too and the quilt is reversiable. I think this side will be the winter side.

Queen Anne’s Lace This quilt is

26” l X 18” wide. It is one of my works that is built on the curvy cut system. I quilted in lines of the wind with the same curvy feel.I enjoy the hand work that I put into the surface of this work.

Fall Fires I am still working away on this piece. I am just about ready to begin to build in the smoke around the flames. The bottom area is not done either.

Leaving the Land I put in time on this felt based work this week too. It is much closer to being complete then Fall Fires. There are only islands of spaces were I need to do the free motion work. The dark area on the far left about half way up is an example of a space where I need to add stitching.

Bird Land I have assembled the top for this work at this time. It sort of got out of my control as far as size is concerned. I do not usually work quite this big on art quilts. I will do a little drawing of possible free motion quilt patterns that have a bird motif this week before I begin that step.

Curvy Cut As I finished the last curvy cut piece, Queen Anne’s Lace, I thought I should begin a new work in that vain. Again I used Randy’s deconstructed screen printed fabric as my starting place. It is about 41” l X 37” w a little big for this type of project.( Is there a theme here?) I have pulled a pile of fibers and threads that I might use to embellish this project.

Label Blocks # 86 #87

I am working away on this project too. Only 69 more blocks to go.

Keep your eyes open in this time of wonderful fall color and enjoy creating

Carol

Blue Iris, Felt Work, Generational Whispers, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Weeds

Openings

June 30, 2016 admin

Hello,

Summer is blooming all around my house. I love all the color that surrounds one this time of year.

Have you crossed over from the room to another and then stopped cold -not remember what you were in search of. It happens to me all the time and then I read that is a common thing. The scientist studying the brain have determined that this is part of a self protective alert system man kind has carried from his early development. Moving from the inside of a cave to the out side world meant that one had to clear the brain of all distractions to be aware of the new environment. The same is true of going from the protection of a forest out into a meadow. These clearing or emptying of mind the may have meant the difference between life and death to our ancestors. So the next time you forget why you went to the living room forgive your self and chalk it up to old mental protection processes.

Progress Report: No Clue This project is 50” l X 41.5” w. It fits in my three challenge too. Snow dyed and direct dye painted fabrics where used in this project. It was based on a collage and it has some of Ethel’s fabric in it. The quilting lines run parallel to the edges of the color changes in this work.

Generiational Whispers The faces are starting to be applied to the surface on this work. A few of the lines are new to the portraits but many are just drawn over the machine lines that were on the organza. This person is my grandmother Ruth.

Blue Iris I just used reflective quilting on this project. I have labels on the back noting what the oriental symbols mean. I am still quilting.

Weeds I am still working away on the flower heads on this project. There did not seem to be a lot of time for hand work this week. I am enjoying working on the discharged fabric that Randy made.

New work This top is almost complete now. The quilting pattern is the new part of this challenge. The big orange print is rayon that is backed with iron on inner facing so it will not stretch. It was a gift and was a pair of bib pants in its last life.

Wool projects I have started adding silk paper, yarn and fabrics to the surface of this project. This is my favorite part of the process. My friend Tanya gave me some of her unused stretcher bars last week so I put three sets of them together and started more wool projects. This is the early stage of one of them. I start out laying roving in patterns and then felt it down. The next step is the layering of more material on top to add the texture.

Found Project This project was in the bottom of a basket of UFO’s. I was frustrated with this project last fall. But looking at it with new eyes now -I see a direction to go with it.

Label Block #67 Another block done.

Keep Creating

Carol

Collage Based Work, Dappled Sunshine, Deep Jellies, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Generational Whispers, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Scrap Happy Quilts, Weeds

Butterfly Days

June 16, 2016 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

These beautiful paper butterflies represent the happy feelings I feel for this time of year. Patti cut them with her press cutter on Wed when the FAB group meant. I have seen some live ones too, but I am not fast enough with my camera to capture any images. They seem to represent the slow easy time we seem to be in now. We had our last FAB meeting until Aug as we all agreed that travel and family will now fill our days for a while.

I have learned that when I am unsure of what I need/want to do next I tend to start a new project. The result of this is I have lots of new projects going on at the moment and only have a Scrap Happy quilt finished this week. That project too represents my feelings of unease, because scrap happy’s are also fill in projects. I have made 150 of these scrap quilts and they require no thinking on my part. But they do keep my hands busy and allow me to think through what is upsetting/ blocking me with other work.

Progress Report: Dappled Sunshine I finished the pebble quilting and the line quilting on this piece this morning. I am now ready to add the facings and finish this project. It will be done by next week.

Scarp Happy 150 I have no home in mind for this quilt, but I am sure it will go to a worthy cause.

new Scarp Happy When I put together the center blocks for the last scrap happy I also made extra blocks. Enough to make two more actually. This one got put into the row form this week.

Generational Whispers The grandmothers and great grandmothers got drawn on to organza this week. I know this was part of the stress I talked about as I do not feel very sure of myself when it come to do portatures. My machine drawings are human but not good likenesses of the folks they represent. I have decided to let that be that way as only a few people know the subjects any way. I will add a second layer of machine drawing when I attach them to the quilt surface.

Deep Jellies This work is also causing some stress for me. I love the colors and the textures of the jellyfish themselves. I am just unsure about the movement of the tentacles and how I want to quilt on this project. There are lots of little design decisions in this piece.

Weeds I am happily to the detail part of this project. I like doing the hand work that defines the weed heads. Three done and a dozen to go.

wool work This is the biggest machine felted work I have ever done and it too is very slow work. I finally got stretcher bars with out any canvas on them and that is what this work will be used on. I am not even done with the first layer, so there will be lots of color changes.

New top This in the newest piece that it based on a collage. It also has Ethel fabrics and some I have altered, so it fits my personal challenge. I think the the title will have something to do with angles or irregular cuts.

New Work My friend Tanya gave me the wonderful big orange print fabric I am using in this piece. It is in the real early stage.

Label Blocks #64 and #65 I did double duty on the blocks this week. It is so pleasant to set out doors after dinner and work in the evenings. I hope summer is bringing delight into your life too.

Keep Creating

Carol

Dappled Sunshine, Deep Jellies, Generational Whispers, Label Blocks, Weeds

Spring progress

June 9, 2016 admin

Hello,

We are enjoying the colors of spring even though the temperatures are a bit chilly. These pansies are from Sue Ellen’s garden. All three of the groups I meet with meant on Tuesday this week. I was exhausted when I got home. First was the FAB meeting in Judy’s Garden until the rain hit us. Nancy shared her progress on the Blue Bird quilt she is building for her Mom. It is growing beautifully.

Patti blessed us all with a wonderful felted book marks. It is a great bit of felting!

Then I was off to the QuIG’s meeting. Sue Ellen had a wonderful curved challenge on her pin wall. She rotated and changed position of parts so I know this is not the final orientation. It will be fun to watch how she changes this work. Angela is working away with her felting projects toward her show next winter. She showed us her sketches. Linda is working with how to create Sea Grape leaves. She showed us a bit of her school glue resist dyeing too. I love the colors Liz continues to do her two blocks a week challenge and she showed us six new ones.It will be on playful quilt when she is done.

Barb showed off another of her tributes to her ancestor works with this lovely little quilt. I think the way she is presenting the old lace hand work is very strong.

This piece is one of Sally’s wonderful little works. She also shared some very nice pillow cases and bags she had made for her grand daughters. It was a good meeting.

The off to Diva’s. Alice shared her newest work with a tribute to musicians. Sharon showed off one of her altered print works and I really like the texture. She also shared two works that were giving her problems and asked for suggestions. I am sure she will solve the problems with time and work.

Lori has been stitching away on her tundra pieces. This time she also brought along the source of the idea for this work. It is great. I am so very glad I belong to such a diverse and talented group.

Progress Report: Purple Passion This work is 45.5” l X 31” w. It is based on a collage and after some long study I feel could go back and try to represent the collage again. I got so involved in the assembly process that I lost the simple color break up of the original work. I do feel like I am getting better with the technique part of the assembly and quilting however. I enjoyed adding the sparkle of the metallic fabric to this work.

Dappled Sunshine I have just started the quilting on this work. It is another of the bigger pieces so it will take a while for this to be completed.

Deep Jellies The jelly fish are getting tacked down and I am building in the details with machine stitching and the couching down of various yarns. It too is rather large so the getting it under the arm of the machine is tiresome and I seem to only be able to work on it about an hour before I feel I must put it aside and work on something else.

Generational Whispers This too is a monster quilt. I must have been in an expansive mood for a while. The faces, life sized, are drawn on wash away and are of my grandmothers. I am planning to free motion draw them on organza and build the next generation on top of the organza and below them on the work. I am dealing with a bit of fear here too as I do not know what I am doing……

Weeds This work is part of the wiggle cut series. I am slowly hand stitching in the stems of the weeds and will add the heads in time. I only work on this piece in the evenings and only after the Label Blocks and other hand work is done, so it is another slow project.

Leftovers This work is just made from sections of Dappled Sunshine that did not work in that piece. I will use it as base to experiment with some ideas I am trying to work out.

New work This is a new piece based again on a collage. I am learning a lot about how to use angles in my work with the collage stuff. This piece fits my three challenge too. My dyed work are the big purple units and the red and blue sections are some of the snow dyed I did last winter. Ethel’s fabric is the turquoise and and pink stuff.

Label Block # 62 I just doggedly keep at these blocks.

Enjoy spring and Keep Creating

Carol

Briar Patch, Creative Assistants, Label Blocks, Out the Window, Riverwood, Watakoo Wall

Green Day

March 17, 2016 admin 1 Comment

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. It is sunny and bright today and I am really feeling the wonders of spring. Notice the bee in the center of the wind flower on the left. So many trees have big fat buds I am sure they will open soon. I had no meetings this week so I got a lot done. I do have stuff coming up however. This Sat and Sunday I will be apart of the Spring Thing at the Turquoise Street Gallery. I will be there on Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4Come along and have so goodies if you can. My other news is I am off to visit Susan on Tues and I will not be back until the following Tuesday . So there will be no post next week. I am sure I will have lots to share when I get home as she already has lots of plans for activates for the two of us.

Progress Report: Briar Patch I have completed this work, but I do not feel like it is really done. It is OK- but it has no life for me. I will take it to the Associated Artists meeting this week end and get some feed from other artists on it. I do like all the textures and colors that the patch contains but it seems fall short .

Ribbon Rose Pillow When I went to visit Susan last spring I fell in love with a wonderful piece of red fabric that she had. It was topped with these wonderful ribbon patterns. It has taken me a year to study and then adapt the technique to my collection of techniques. I am quit pleased with this typeof embellishing. I will admit that it is not a surface that is comfortable to press against however. But the texture is wonderful!

Out the Window I have finished all the stitch in the ditch work on this piece. It is now stable enough to start the free motion drawing part. I Think I will make each block a different view. I plan to leave some of the “windows’ blank and all the white ones with purple blocks printed on them will be curtained windows. I am thinking that the deep purple blocks will be night scenes. This is a big challenge and I may change my mind as I go along. But that is my plan.

Riverwood This work fits all three of my monthly challenge criteria. It is based on a collage, has my altered fabric and some of Ethel’s fabric too. I changed the color when I went to fabric from red to oranges and from grays to browns. I am showing one of the early pin up steps of this work because I have realized that as I enlarge the work from the 4”X 6” collage to a larger size it takes on a life of its own and I alter the work accordingly. ( note the additional half circles. ) I have finished all the stitch in the ditch work on this piece too and I am now ready to add the free motion work. I am not sure what to do so I am living with it.

Watakoo Wall I started some new work based on photos of rock formations. This is the beginning. I always try to lay the wool out in a pattern that follows the lights and darks of the start, but it too takes on a life of its own when I change mediums. Is this what is meant by abstraction?

This is a second work from a different section of the same photo before I add any fabrics on top. It to has morphed from the photo to this point.

Creative Assistants I have been inspired again this week to get back into doing faces for my creative assistants. I have done about two dozen and I will keep at it for a bit longer. Then move on to the next step.

New work Here is another work that is fits the monthly challenge work. And it too seems to have pulled away from the collage with enlargement. I have broken things up and altered the sizes of color blocks as I have gone along. I guess I will just have to face that the changes are a natural part of my process. It is all a part of learning and creating as I go along. A natural part of the process for me.

Label Block #44 I like the label form my Minion sculpture Christmas gift ( upper left hand corner ) the best in this block.

Keep Creating

Carol

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

Cre-8

Category Archives: Curvie Cuts

Could be Spring

Supporting a Friend

Falling Back

Time

Fall Color

Openings

Butterfly Days

Spring progress

Green Day

Purple Touches

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer