Category Archives: Daily Practice

Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Geza Series, Manzi, Pants Leg Monster

Quilt and Surface Design Symposium

 

Hello,
I am home form my adventure to QSDS.  Susan very generous and kindly asked me to ask me t replace her on this adventure. It was great!   This conference was held on the Columbus Collage of Art and Design  campus  in Columbus Ohio.    I was  in Independent Studio/ Master Class with Rosalie Dace for seven days. What a great way to imerce one in a new challenge. I prepared myself by choosing a new subject that I had never tried before and set a goal of trying to find ways to blur the edges of my work. I am pleased with my progress and will keep developing this train of thought.  My photos of the car wash were a great jumping off place. The class only had 7 folks in it.
Jenny was setting behind me and her simplified drawings developed into a wonderful work by the end of the week.

 

 

 

Sherry spent the week working on a quilt based on the back side of a water lily leaf.

 

 

 

Dale worked on a piece based on the blue sound in space.

 

 

 

 

Susan was preparing for a solo show that has 30 works in it. She is also writing a book and hopes to turn her quilts into posters to sell to other cooks.

 

 

Rosalie did hand work all week jumping from one project to another. This is one of my favorites.

I checked in with Victoria too and this shot shows her first piece dealing with fusing.

 

 

We took a field trip to on Wed. First stop was the Ohio Museum of Craft. I was delighted by this wonderful sunflower by Mark Wiesner. It made me recall my corrugated mask series that I did at SU.

The show was wonderful with a lot of great work.
Then it was back to the bus and off to Athens to Quilt National. No photos there of course but it was stimulating. I was looking seriously at how others blurred the edges and ways they quilted that were not the typical strait line work. I got lots of ideas.

 

Victoria’s fist class ended on Friday and she had three more works to add to her future.

 

 

There was a walk about on Friday too and I visited all the classes.

 

 

 

This is a shot of Pat Pauly’s dye class- one of five rooms.

 In keeping with my attention focus on machine work, I was fascinated by this work by Joe Cunningham that he had out for the walk about.
Victoria went on to a two day class with Joe for the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a challenge and Pat Pauly did these works in response to that.  The folks  where to do four little 12 X 12 quilts in red, yellow blue and green.   These are Pat’s yellow and blue works.

 

 

 

This is Susan’s response to green .

 

 

 

 

 

The teachers did a lecture one evening and this is a shot of Joe on stage talking about his work.

 

 

 

 

There was one other event that needs to be mentioned, it is not offered every year.    But on Tues at 11:45 we had to evacuate our beds due to a tornado alarm warning. We all went to the basement were we  enjoyed a sleep ware fashion show while we waited to return to sleep.
The week was great and I feel like a gained a lot from being there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Geza series: Pants Leg Monster   This work  is 38.5″ w X  50″ l.     I did it in class with Rosalie. One of my faults is I try to put everything in one work and being in class stopped  me from dong that with this time.

 

 

 

 

The parts are suspended from the top with a few  “drops” running down as quilting.

 

 

 

 

Geza   Manzi         Manzi   is Zulu for  water.    I am still straggling with the quilting on this project. Again Rosalie saved me from trying to fill this with too much stuff.

 

Geza series: 3 I have not decided on a title for this work yet. It is loosly based on the bubbles sliding down the windshield and grew directly out of my photos . I had intended to put the Tyvec bubbles on top of Manzi .

This work is also my first mix of hand stitches with machine work.

 

Geza 4 I made the heat panels from silk paper before I left for Ohio. This  is early in the process and only pinned in place.

 

 

 

 

 

Geza 5 The car in front of me in the wash  kept tapping his breaks….. this work grew out of that.   I am feeling more confident just using the suggestion of the idea as my starting place then before this class.

 

 

 

 

Purple Squares At night in Columbus  I worked on my Daily Practice every eve. I got ten  blocks finished.

Childhood:  Milking     Grandfather Merritt taught me to milk when I was 10.   I was quite proud although I never developed enough stamina to to fill a bucket.   My cousin  Kelly was allergic to cow’s milk so they had goats.  Phoebe was her favorite and one day after proudly barging I could milk a cow she challenged me to milk the goat.  I almost completed the task and the goat kicked over the bucket and knocked me off my pride perch.

I had a good and full week and feel charged to go forward.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Icarus, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Re Work, Scrap Happy Quilts

Spring Studio Schweinfurth 2019

Hello.

This last week end was the spring retreat at the Schweinfurth.  It is a time when one can work on projects of one’s own choosing and be with other like minded folks. This time I was in the dry studio and worked on lots of projects. Many of my friends were present too. Sharon did some wonderful pillow covers down stairs in the wet studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce did some explorations that look a lot like her paintings.   As you can see she really  loves the apple green color.

 

 

 

 

 

Regina worked in the wet studio too and showed me one of her finished indigo/ hand dye painted pieces the first morning before she got to work.

 

 

 

 

Liz was up stairs and she took advantage of Nancy’s expertise to move forward with machine quilting.

 

 

 

Donna did hand work.

 

 

 

 

Norma put together a new top made with fabric her grandson brought back from Sweden for her.

 

 

Sally worked diligently on this piece and got the top all assembled over the weekend.

 

 

 

 

I worked away on may projects- but folks were most amused by my “Pig Pen” like approach to building scrap units.

 

 

 

 

I put in a lot of thought into the old blue squares and decided to cut them down to 6″ squares. The 42 of them will be added to 43 newly embroidered  purple squares that will be my new Daily Practice work.   Later   I will assembled the old ones and then new blocks into  a quilt.

It was a great fun weekend and we did get silly as this picture shows- we were excited talking over one another and laughing when the Kindergarten teacher in Liz came out and she put us in line.

There was an extra benefit to being at the Schweinfurth, we got to see the Made in New York show. I really liked this wonderful bit of fiber work that greets one at the opening of the show.

 

 

Tues was also meeting day for QuEG’s and Diva’s. For QuEG’s we meant at Dori’s house.  Sue Ellen had a great sunset to share with us.

 

 

Corrine had more of her wonderful leather works.

 

 

 

 

Victoria showed off one of her new projects too.

 

 

 

Dori had a beautiful bed quilt that she is doing for her grand daughter. Dori also shared a portion of her Paper Doll collection with us.

It was amazing and brought lots of laughs as well as memories to all of us. A fun meeting.

Diva’s was a lot quieter. Maureen showed off her newest bit of hand work. This photo does not show all the stitch work.

 

Mary brought back her finished “Painted Ladies”. They are delightful.

Wednesday, the FAB group helped Nancy do a bit of moving by all showing up at her old house and loading up our  cars and  then driving to the new house and unloading there. I took this shot of the drooping tulip in the garden at the old house. I was taken by the shape.   Nancy is leaving beautiful gardens behind- but looking forward to building new ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Icarus This work is 35″w X 41.5″ l. I spent a lot of time on this at the retreat. Not only did I add the  body  parts to the background I added the loin cloth and did more quilting. I added the harness and wing connections on Monday when I got home.

I am quite pleased with it and it is off to be hung at a part of the “ Flight Show “ by Associated Artists in the Maniluas Library for the next 30 days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circular Thinking 3 X 3- revisited. The more I looked at this piece the more unhappy I was with it. So over the weekend I took it apart and re assembled it. I am still working on evening up the sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scraps assembly This is the way the strips look when they are sewn together and pressed. I will then cut them  horizontally  into 2.5″ strips and put the strips into long rows that will later be added to blocks or as boarders for the Scarp Happy quilts I make.

 

 

Sketchbook Revival: This class is over now but I am still working doing the lessons that I did not get to. This is what I did in response to Rachel Taylor’s instruction. The whole process  has been a good way to stretch a bit.

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice – Purple squares Here is the first purple square to go with the blue ones I mentioned before.

Fortunately I still had the cut letters  that I had created for the first set of squares so I could add the stamping like the first ones.

 

Childhood Memories- Fishing in Minnesota
My brother, Gene always liked to fish. Me – not so much, but I would go along and read while he did the fishing. One summer our family took a vacation in the 1,000 lakes of Minnesota. For 10 days we did not see or talk to anyone other then the family members. Gene and I spent several days” fishing”. On one of those days we were quietly floating in a nice sunny area when Gene had a strike. He reeled the fish up and out of the water- it was a big one! Then the line snapped and the fish fell back into the water. Gene was upset. But upon looking over the side of the boat he spotted the bright silver  lure against the  dark green bottom. He quickly tied another lure  to his line and carefully dropped it back into the water and hooked the new lure into the first and proceeded to reel everything back in. This time however he quickly pulled the fish over the boat where the line broke for a second time and the fish and two lures landed in the bottom of the boat. He was thrilled. A great fish story.   He went on to catch three more fish that afternoon. And guess who got to clean the fish?- Me of course.

Keep Creating
Carol

Creative Assistants, Daily Practice, Experiments, Felt Work, Fundations XIX Mossy Stone, Label Cards, Rain Puddle, Southern Crows

Winter Whites

 

Hello,

After three days of wet snow, I have  been thinking a lot about white.   In this  photo the door that is painted white and that is different then the white siding and the snow created a third white.      Snow quickly becomes a dirty white with age and light can also effect snow  making it appear blue at times.   This is a good time of year to look closely at this color.

This is the second snow with more than 4 “ so I snow dyed again this morning.IMG_2335   This shot of the pot makes it look like it is red and black- but the dark color is labeled navy blue……. only time will tell what I get.   IMG_2322This shot is of the first snow dye that I did two weeks ago with yellow and blue.       I have been home a lot between events the last two weeks  and I have worked away in the studio.    There is a lot  to show for that effort.

Progress Report: Rain Puddle  This work is 18” X 24”  stretched.    It is a rework piece.   Rock 19I started with this Mossy Rock  that I created in my   Foundations   series.  I did  27 of those and very few are of any interest to anyone but me.   So in recalling what my good friend Ethel said “Carol,  you make good backgrounds”  I thought what a better background then  a rock for a puddle.     So I looked at puddles on my walks and noted how they appeared to darken the leaves and thought I could use organza and nylon net to create that depth.   IMG_2357I also noticed how the oak leaves were all so uniformly cream and brown so I used them as my  subjects for this work.IMG_2358

 

Daily Practice V  This work is also  18” X 24” .       It takes about 7 weeks for me to complete one of these works.   IMG_2353   I enjoy all the hand work that is a part of the process.IMG_2351   This one also used  a great hand dyed that I did last year with a piece of upholstery  fabric that Regina gave me.      This is the last one this series as I have a new challenge to do for my daily work that involves a lot of hand work.

 

Scrap Happy   This is a queen sized quilt that I  created for my granddaughter Alexis for Christmas.    It is made from the box of scraps from Ethel. This is the fifth one using up her scraps.Many of the little units were created by her.

 IMG_2362Southern Crows    I am to the quilting stage on this work now .      I am doing reflective work  around the bird square and   just building around the squares out side of that.

Butterfly Wing   This work is nearly done and I really like some parts of this experiment.   Others – not so much.   I may just cut this up and use sections separately as it is a bit much all together.IMG_2347    Little areas work so much better.

 

 

Earth – Waterfall   This work is building up.   IMG_2323I built this tree( on the left)  and then added foliage to create the crown.       I am ready to build up the stones and add the water now.

Noogoora Pods I just finished quilting stitch in the ditch on this piece.   I am now ready to build the steams and add the pods to the surface.    Hopefully it will not need additional quilting after that point.

Felts 1   I am building backgrounds for the machine drawn birds that I have been creating.       This is an early stage  but a start

Felt- 2 IMG_2338  Because I have to give up part of my desk when I use the felting machine I like to build more than one background at a time.   This is the second and it is even rougher than  the first.

IMG_2340Felt-3   This one is hardly tacked at all.  I have only layer in the base and will build color over the top before I do much felting on this one.

Creative Assistants  IMG_2364  I have watched some sports on TV lately so I am creating little faces on my assistants.   I just packed away 30 of them that were totally done on Tue  and did not pull them out for a photo.

IMG_2336Totem – Fox   The Sisterhood of the Scissors has a challenge.   It is to create ones totem and this is my enlarged sketch for that project.   I plan not to use the traditional color scheme, but  limit it  none the less.

Label Cards: Marriage  As a part of my thinking about what I  was thankful for over the last holiday I realized how very important my marriage is to me.    So I made this card.

Saving.   At the other end of what is happening is all the pressure to Shop!   Black Friday , Small  Business Saturdays,   Cyber Monday…….. and for what?   Do we really need more things?    I going to give experiences, Theater tickets, and trips to the Zoo.   That way I can save MEMORIEs instead of spend money of things that really do not matter.

Keep Creating,

Carol

Birds, Daily Practice, Deep Jellies, FOX, Label Cards, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Southern Crows, Word Forms

Fall Retreat 2018

Hello,

The Schweinfurth Fall Retreat was last week end.   I had a good time and got a bit of work done  along with lots of old friends. IMG_2260Janice, a friend I made at the  fall retreat two years ago, made and appearance and worked on this baby quilts.     Her child is due in April.   IMG_2252Sally finished up this top.   One of her children gave it to her.

IMG_2265Victoria returned to work on this piece that has some hand dyed stuff in it that she created in the wet studio last fall.

IMG_2261Susan made three Christmas stockings( yes, that is an opossum on the one above her head )  and quilted on a piece that she started at QBL two summers ago.

IMG_2262Sally F worked on this wonderful soft colored piece that is a jump off from a Kay Facet design.

IMG_2250  Randy quilted with the quilting machine in the front of the class room and made progress on this quilt.

IMG_2251Janet worked on creating these diamonds in Cherry wood  strips and she got all the blocks done this weekend.

IMG_2248Liz worked away on this piece using some of her hand dyed fabric.

IMG_2230I started playing with some trapped cut yarns just to see what would happen.       Then I also started to assemble a top using the crows I printed at Susan’s in Florida in March.   IMG_2229   Everyone had fun and made progress.   There was so much going on it was rather exciting.

 

  Sisterhood of the Scissors meant at the Schweinfurth today and looked at the the Q=A=Q show.   We  decided to use this  nine patch  quilt as the basis for our next challenge.   The wild piecing and applique work  appealed to us.   Not sure about he rules- but I think it will push folks to some unique work.

 

 

 

After checking out the Q=A=Q show the group went upstairs to view the Members  Show.   This is my piece, Deep Jellies  that is in the show.

Lots of my friends are in this one too.     There is work by Victoria .   I know she dyed  this in a workshop with Pat Pauly.

 

IMG_2301Lori’s piece from Danalia was displayed.

IMG_2303Angela’s felt work was shown too.  I  regret to say that my shot of The Crows Of Auburn, by Regina ,  is too fuzzy to post- but it was there as well.     NOel had a ceramic piece too.    It is a strong show with lots of variety and very enjoyable.

 

Progress Report: Purple Study  I enjoyed building this little  11” X 11” piece.    The hand work class is still resonating with me.

 

 

 

JacketIMG_2274As   further proof of that the  handwork  classes  influence, I started altering this linen jacket this week.   I took out the shoulder pads and added a few patches of color.   I have even done a little hand stitching here as well.   I can see this is a long term project.

Black Capped Chickadee  I did some tread painting of Chickadees this week as I want to keep building  the free motion skills.

 

 

 

Earth –  WaterfallIMG_2271  I have not touched this piece in awhile but I got back to it this week.   I am building in the trees at this point.  The water over the rocks will come later.

IMG_2321Scrap Happy   I am assembling the rows through the backing and batting in a sew and flip fashion.   I will quilt over all of it later to add strength.

Rework FOX IMG_2317   I thought I was finished with this work a few weeks ago.   When I took it to the QuEGs meeting folks like the colors and the layout- but said it needed more quilting.   This is a case where  in my rush to finish I did not really look at the work to see it’s flaws.   It is easy to repair this one- I merely took off the sleeve and labels and pealed back the facings so I could add more machine quilting.   I am building up the new quilting in a diagonal pattern.

 

 

Daily Practice      The hand work continuers to fill in on this work.   I need to finish that step and then live with it a while to see if it needs any additional embellishment.   I am trying to allow for the looking stage.

 

IMG_2278 Southern Crows    The top I stared at the the retreat is all assembled now.   Pressing and basting need to come next so I can begin to quilt it.

Shredded  Color This is a close up  of the other piece that I started at the retreat.      I have plastic bags of  shredded yarn in color groups that I capture between the felted background and various colors of nylon net with free motions stitching.IMG_2318  It is an experiment and I am leaning lots.   I may or may not keep the piece as a whole unit.      Got to do the careful looking and living with it – but first I need to finish the work.

 

Label Card:   Beyond     In this crazy fast pasted world, it is difficult to look beyond our  next step or the next day.   I fear we are losing lots of joy and wisdom by not looking a little bit beyond the immediate  events.    So this card is to remind me to slow down and think about the future as well as the past.

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving so there will not be a post next week.    Enjoy your blessings.

Keep Creating,

Carol

Cedar Wax Wings, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Re Work

Busy Week

 

Hello,

This week was full of fiber art  meetings.     Saturday was the   FLFA meeting at the Schweinfurth.

IMG_2189Pat  shared her latest work with us at the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting on Sat.     She hand dyed all the fabric  in this work.  There where lots of folks present  as we had to cancel the Sept meeting.   These works are by Joyce.   She really puts a lot of motion in her work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marcia shared this dynamic  piece with us.   She creates movement in a different way.

IMG_2196  Bev is working in a much quieter pallet than Pat and Marcia.   I like the irregular   bottom edge too.

IMG_2197Sharon had a whole pile of little works that she is going to sell at the 12X12 show at the Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton.   This one was my favorite.

Angela is still exploring with Polynesian  tapa cloth  symbols.   She made the screens and printed all of these by hand. IMG_2201 Julia is exploring in a new direction too.   I really like the text like shapes she is using.   IMG_2202Liz went off to the  Barn and took a class with Clair Bends and this is just one of the dye pieces that she created.   He is fun.

The QuEG’s also meant this week.   Liz shared these three pieces again from    Clair’s class.

Corrinenes BookCorinne had been to the Red Thread workshop and shared this wonderful book that she made.  It is full of different types of experimenting that they did.  This photo shows work with a copper plate and  a Gellie plate print.

Sue ellen's catsSue Ellen made a top using a cool Cat Pannell that she had purchased.     She is planning on giving it to the service project at  Tow Path.    I think that is very kind of her.

After four I went  south with Noel to go to the Diva meeting.    Cindy shared this beautiful work with us.

Diva meeting  This quilt will be a part of the Diva show  Earth Song,  at the Unitarian Church in Ithaca  from Nov 30 to Jan 10.

It has been a full week and I am excited about moving forward.

 

Progress Report:  Cedar Wax Wings   This work is 12” X 12”.  It is my entry for the Off the Wall Show/Sale for Associated Artist in the Manlius Library.  It opens on  Sunday.  IMG_2226   I am so enjoying doing thread painting that I can add on top of the felt.IMG_2227

Black Capped Chickadee  n the same vain as the Cedar Wax Wings,  I am doing a Chickadee.IMG_2213I built this background in felt.   I drew my birds and I have just started to do the free motion work here.IMG_2215

 IMG_2209Consider  This is   a rework of an old quilt that I cut up and used as a base for some hand work.

 

 

Noogoora    I am doing the hand work on my seed heads  now.   The white side shows the  my out lines that I am attempting to stay within with my stitches.

IMG_2205Experiments:   I try to use the books and magazines I have on my shelves and this little experiment grew out of one of them. I had tried tacking yarn down on top of felt like suggested earlier.    This process is done under wash away and is suggested in …………..msdmf   I moved on.   I have a great photo close up of a butterfly wing showing all the little “scales” of color.       I wanted to try adding bits of color – fabric or yarn in little pieces to get this type of effect.   I thought that if I scattered the bits on felt- then might stick enough to remain on the surface until I could stitch them down.   That did not work.   But adding a bit of nylon netting over the top did.    Now I want to try that idea on a bigger scale.   IMG_2211  In the book Layers of Stitch by by Valerie Campbell-Harding and Maggie Gray in chapter 6 Cutting out the Patch talk about stitching on felt and cutting it away.   My mind jumped to the wash away and I built my net using that  instead.  ( I never could follow directions)      Not sure where any of these ideas will go, but I really am not to worried about that part.

 

 

  Rework- new  I decided I would take a second look at the old rock pieces.  I did them just for myself and some are a lot stronger than others.  I was talking with Liz about this and she suggested that I build a new ice piece over the rock surface.   I like that idea and I will try that as well.    I cut this piece so a near square piece so I can stretch it when I am done.    When I was on my walk I noticed how the leaves were floating in little pools  and I thought I could do that on the rocks too.  This is my first attempt.   IMG_2222I picked up some oak and Gingko leaves on that walk and IMG_2223I made stencils out of my tracings of the leaves.     I will add paint to some fabric using the stencils and add them on top of the rock.

Daily Practice   I just keep stitching away on this piece.     It is very calming work.

Keep Creating

Carol

Blue Jays, Collage, Daily Practice, Killdeer, Scrap Happy Quilts, Shows

Opening of Quilts=Art =Quilts

 

IMG_2159Hello

Color is filling the leaves of our area now.   Lots of gold and red around here.      This week has been a full one for me.   The QAQ show opened on Sat at the Schweinfurth and I got to see my quilt in all its glory.   IMG_2133Julia was one of the folks in this show too.   She also came to the opening.   I made a connection with a quilter from California- Viviana Lombrozo .   Her work was in the same gallery as mine and we went to the banquet together  and had a grand time talking and sharing ideas.  Then we meant again at the Gallery Walk About on Sunday afternoon.     I am still flying high from the experience.

Over this same weekend I was taking a class called Mindful Stitching Practice with Christine Mauersberger.   She is a great teacher with lots to share.IMG_2169   She gave us various prompts to stitch.  This is my piece from day one showing circles and my breath patterns.   IMG_2174We did responses to music and other prompts on Sat.    There were so many directions that I did not get to all of them.IMG_2172   This is my response to taking a walk with my thread.    There were 13 other gals in the class responding to her guidance too. Lots f different solution to all the different ideas that were offered up.          IMG_2141And down stairs they where doing Indigo dye work.    This is a shot of two of Regina’s pieces  from that class.      There was so much going on that I still have not processes it all.

Progress Report: Blue Jays I finally got going on the 12”X12” pieces for the next show at the Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton.      The Blue Jays were fun to do  and putting on the stretch felt really was enjoyable too.IMG_2183I think I will do more jays a s they are so active in this area. IMG_2184

 

Killdeer     This too will be part of the Broad Street Gallery show.   Their distinctive calls have made these birds a long time favorite of mine.IMG_2179

 

 

Cedar Wax Wings IMG_2165 I have three of these little fellows done now and I will build a background to use them on next.  I enjoy the thread painting and I have ideas for some butterflies as well as more weeds too.

Daily Practice  IMG_2168I am doing the button whole stitch alone the chain work now and I am about half way done with that process.

IMG_2185New work- Noogoora/cocklebur  This shot shows the fusible inner facing that is on the back of the fabric to make it more stable  for hand stitching .   I can also draw the shape of the prickly seed heads on the back so I can see what shape I am going for with the stitching.   The seed is enlarged about 500 times .         I hope this works.

New WorkIMG_2161I am auditioning fabrics for my next piece.  It is to be an earth piece  in the elements series.    I am trying to decide if I will build on browns greens or grays.

Label card- Include All   In this time of conflict I wanted to think beyond the division and remind us all that there is only one world and we need to be inclusive not exclusive  with it!

Keep Creating

Carol

Collections, Daily Practice, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Friends, Scrap Happy Quilts, Wildfire

Fall Color

Hello,

IMG_2092Fall is all around me here in central NY.   I love all the color  although it has been very rainy so leaves are being pulled off the trees and there is little full color display here.   One needs to enjoy what is available.

FAB meant on Friday last week and  Sharon shared her completed commissions.  She sure can build a great  depth in her work  and all the seasons are represented.

IMG_2083This week I went with the Associated Artists  to visit an artists  studio.   Chris Baker ( his work is in the photo) was very open and gracious to us answering question after question.   It was a good learning experience.

Progress Report:  Wildfire This work is 33” w X 34” l.   I have so enjoyed working on this project.     I used a lot of the information that I learned in the transparence class at QBL last summer .  IMG_2108 I also used some silk paper that I had created to build up the color.   IMG_2109Everything is sewn  and quilted  together with free motion work.   I enjoyed  working on this one.

Friends- collections 3 This work is 16” w X 24”l.    There are so many little memories for me in this work.   Many of the objects are gifts from friends.   the Artists trading card here is form my friend Sharron  and the black glass button came from Jenny’s button box.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machine drawing    I did a lot of machine drawing of birds this week.     Two Blue Jays, two Killdeer  and three Cedar Waxwings make up my efforts.     The last Waxwing is about half done.    I want to add them to the felting that I did last week.   Hopefully they will be a part of the  12X12 show at the Broad Street gallery in Dec/Jan.

 

 

Scarp Happy workIMG_2111These are three of the panels that I am building for the back of the scarp happy quilt.   I tried to limit the pallet so it hold together visually.

 IMG_2098Halloween Cards It is the season and I had a good time playing with paint and stickers one  day this week.

New work   The base is all done for this new project.  I want to build some burrs to add on top of this base.

Dyeing  and Indigo IMG_2096   Last Thursday I went to Regina’s and she encouraged me to use her Indigo dye pot.  I did these four  pieces at that time.  I think there is a lot of white because  I am not sure I soaked them in water before  I dipped them.   Mistakes are often made when one is learning.   IMG_2116Part of that learning included the fact that I stitched and wrapped some fabric before I went to Regina’s.   But it was soda soaked and one dose not need  to have soda soaked fabric  for indigo.   So this week I used some premixed dyes from Ethel’ stash on this fabric.   It came out pale again because I did  not know what I was doing.

 

Daily Practice  I keep working  away on this project.  I feel I am  almost  most done with the flow lines  around the outside of the fabric shapes.

 

Keep Creating

Carol

Birds, Creative Assistants, Crow Calls, Daily Practice, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Feed you soul, Felt Work, FOX, Label Cards, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Thousand words, Wildfire, Word Forms

Good News

Calling Crows 49″wX 34″h

Hello,

This work is in the Quilts unlimited Show in Old Forge NY.  I got a letter in the mail this week that told me this work won a Judges Choice award.   I am delighted.

Other events happened this week as well.   Tanya came to visit and we talked of dyeing.  She is working with silk and experimentally dyeing with different materials.   I love the colors she   The big event was yesterday and it was my first meeting with the Sisterhood of the  Scissors.  It was a play day at Regina’s house.    Everyone just did their own thing. 

 

 

 

 

Wendy spent her time at the meeting working on shome stitchery.  Several gals worked on their weaving.

They both had handmade looms.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

one can see the image of her dog under this weaving.   It will be great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regina is mixing her indigo dyed doily and a rust dyed one.I dyed with shaving cream and put a few items into Regina’s Dye pot.  We had a good time and d to the next meeting.

 

Progress Report:   FOX  This work is 25.5” w X 4hhh.   I am finally finished with this work.    I used some of my hand dyed.

IMG_2051The modeled orange red here is that fabric.   The background with the greens is one of the fabrics I inherited from Ethel.   Her influence just keeps going in my life.IMG_2052

Wildfire-  I am now done with the free motion quilting on this piece.  It sure seems to give the work more of a flow  pattern across the surface.

IMG_2046Friends   I am done with the hand applique  and directive stitch work on this piece now.    The glasses are from my friend Mary and the copper belt buckle is  from my mom.   I now need  to purchase some additional stretcher bars as I did not mark the outer edge of the size and I filled the space allotted.    So I will purchase some 16” bars and finish this work.The wool is from Tanya and  the leaves from  Pam.   I got the buttons from a big tin from my friend Sally.    Folks are so very generous.

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice  IMG_2045  All  the fabric pieces are attached now and I am working on stitching to pull them together.

IMG_2054Felting    I went a little crazy when I got the felting machine out and did four bases.IMG_2056    IMG_2057Then I ordered more roving as I did not have as much blue as I wanted.IMG_2058

Birds   The felting lead me to do some machine drawing and the Blue Jay and the Killdeer are the result.   I will build a few more birds to

apply to the backgrounds.

 

 

 

 

 

New  Work   I started a new background using lots of my hand dyed stuff .

Creative Assistants    I watched a little football this week and built a few faces along the way.

IMG_2064Label Cards Thousand Words    I think this is a true and powerful statement. IMG_2066Feed Your Soul    For each and everyone of us that idea is unique.   Color, texture and exercise are some of the things that feed my soul- but I am sure that is not true of everyone.

Keep Creating

Carol

Collections, Creative Assistants, Daily Practice, Dance, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), FOX, Friends, Label Cards, Natural Elements, Wildfire, Word Forms

Dye Class

IMG_1946Hello,

I took a dyeing workshop at the Schweinfurth for three days last week.   Pat Pauly was the teacher.      This was my second experience  with this teacher doing a similar class and I learned a lot.   My first class was shortly after I had inherited powered dyes form my friend Ethel.   It was also my first time dyeing where I  had to mix  the dye.  When I dyed with Ethel, I would show up and we would play.  She had done  all the prep work

IMG_1951before I arrived on the scene.   So I learned a lot that first time  about those steps in the process- But not a lot of what the teacher was  trying to impart to us  about application and techniques of using the dyes effectively.   This time I feel I got what she wanted us to learn.    IMG_1953There was lots of variety in what folks did in class as this shot of Jacquelyn with her work behind her shows.

   Up stairs at the Schweinfurth   there is a great show of stitchery and weaving by a Mayan family.   It is beautiful and I would encourage any one at all interested in visiting.

   On our way home Liz and I stopped and took a bunch of photos of this beautiful old barn.    I hope to use it as a jumping off point for a new piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have washed out some of the fabric- 30 pieces so far.   I am quiet pleased at the colors and textures that I got from the class.   I feel that because I had class with Pat before that I managed to put my own stamp on the work I created and did not just mimic Pat’s techniques.

IMG_1995 FAB meant here yesterday.  It was good to see everyone again.   Sharon shared this   nearly completed quilt that is part of a triptych that she is making for a friend.    I lone how she added just a small amount of snow on the branches.

Progress Report:   Wildfire   This work is going forward.  I feel I am ready to now add batting and backing and begin to add the free motion stitching to give detail to the work.

 

 

 

 

 

FOX    All the parts are now stitched down with nylon thread.    It is pin basted and ready for the satin stitch work to unite all the parts and move toward finishing the work.IMG_2010

Collections- Friends IMG_2006   I am adding the individual  parts to the surface of this work now.    I called this work Friends because I am putting little gems  that friends have given me together in this work.   This  trading card is from my friend Sharron.

Daily Practice   I m still adding the satin circles to the surface of this piece.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants  IMG_2015  It is football season so I am working on Creative Assistants.   These are ready for pin backs and  squeezie paint embellishments.

IMG_2003New work  I am ready to start a new piece and I have pulled these fabrics to cut and sew together to be my new base.   I want to use the cutaways from several of my text  pieces in this work.

Label Cards

IMG_1999   Dance – Life is movement so thinking of it as a dance is a normal reaction.   Sometimes we forget there is no real pattern that fits everyone.   This is a reminder that  we need to relax and go with in our  personal direction listening to our unique theme.

Dream  Dreams change as we grow and change with the events that shape our lives.   We need to keep revising and believing in our dreams.

Keep Creating,

Carol

PS-  I will be traveling next week so there will not be any Blog for Oct 4.

Daily Practice, FOX, Journeys, Label Blocks, Memory Map Quilts, Mulberry Memories, Wildfire, Word Forms

First Opening

Hello,

The fall is a beautiful time and I am enjoying it.   I went to visit with my friend Chris who has a camp on Kuaka  Lake this week.    This wall work is by her late husband and one of the new items she has placed in her cabin.  

This week was also the opening of the Broad Street Galley show.   This is a shot is of two of my smaller works  along with other  gallery work.     Sharon and I shared a pleasant evening talking to folks. 

On Friday Liz and I spent the day painting on fabric.  It was a new experience for Liz and she did lots of experimenting.   I painted organza for use in my Wildfire piece.

 

We had fun.

I am off to a three day workshop at the Schweinfurth Art center with Pat Pally on dyeing, tomorrow and so I have been packing.  I hope all this stuff fits into Liz’s car along with her collection too.

 

 

Progress Report:  Label Block   When you are a part of the Quilts =Art = Quilts show one is often asked to contribute a small work to be sold to raise funds for the gallery.   This is my contribution for that cause.

 

 

Mulberry Memories 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This work is 38″ w X 23″ t.    It is part of the memorrie map series about my childhood.   The town represented is Carroll Iowa and we lived in this town for 5 years.   

Playing marbles and learning to ride a bike were important events in those years.      Gene and I also spent a lot of time climbing the mulberry tree in the front yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOX    At this point I am attaching the words to the background with invisible thread.  I plan to cut away the back and then I will be ready to applique the words down and quilt the piece.

Wildfire     This work is shaping up now.    I used some of the organza that I painted on Friday in this piece and I added some silk paper from my stash too.   I need to build a foreground  now and then I will be ready to stitch the work together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Scottie block   Lori’s new granddaughter has an eye disability and she asked us to make a square with lots of texture for her.   This is my Scottie that I made with a soft velvet and an old towel for the grass.  I want to add a eye made with a doll eye to give another texture too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collection III- Friends   I have been working away on collecting more elements to add to this work and doing a little stitching too.   I feel like there are enough items on the surface now and so I will concentrate on the handwork from now on.

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice This work is moving forward.  I only have a few more circles to add to the surface and then I will be able to go forward with stitching designs.

 

 

 

 

 Label Cards:This card is obviously a travel card and it is nice to go on journeys.   But there are lots of potential trips just outside one’s own door that are journeys too.   Be open to adventure.

 

 

 

 

And this adventure is one of the immigration.

Enjoy

Carol