Category Archives: Daily Practice

All American, Collections, Daily Practice, Deep Jellies, Enduring, FOX, Indian Pipe, JIG, Label Cards, Scrap Happy Quilts, Thaw in Xavier Wood, Word Forms

Bounty of Show Work

 Hello,

It is fall and the season of quilt shows.    I always submit lots of entries and this year  I really did well.   I have two works in the Associated Artists  at the Manlius Public  Library.   That show opened on the 8th of Sept and will go until the 29th.   The reception is  Sat. Oct 8 from 2:00  to 4:00 at the Library in Manlius NY.    My works Black Capped Chickadee  and Birch Trees  are a part of that exhibit.

   I am also a part of the Interwoven Journeys in Fiber Arts  show at the Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton, NY.   This show opens on Sat Sept . 15, with the reception from 5 to 7.     Indian Pipe is one of the 14 pieces that I submitted to this show.

 

Xaviorwood Ice34″ X40″

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of the four works that will be in the Quilts Unlimited show in Old Forge at the View  from Oct 5 to Nov 5.   The first weekend on Sat  is the opening  with a lunchen and awards.   The other three works show are    Quartered Glyph, Asters and  Calling Crows.

 

Generational Whispers 43X38

 

 

 

Generational Whispers was the work that is in the  judged “It’s All Relative” show  by Experience Fiber Arts  in the Whiler Building,  1 E. Main St in Rochester NY.   The opening is Oct 6,  2:00 to 5:00.   This show runs until Oct 26.

I was also accepted in the international  Schweinfurth Quilts= Art= Quilts show  Judged Show.   My Label quilt was the entry for that show.  It opens Oct 27 and runs until Jan 6, 2019 .   205 Genesee St.   I also will be a part of the Members show at the Schweinfurth during the same time.  My piece Deep Jellys will be a part of that show.       I am flying high with all this work coming and going and it is requiring a bit of juggling on my part too.

Deep Jellies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have also spent a little time with my friend Tanya this week.  She is exploring dyeing silk with procion dye.    I really like her use of color on this experimental piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:   JIG   This quilt is 40″ w X 39″ t.   I enjoyed working on this piece.   It really was  finished last week, but I wanted to fray the edges of the letters so it was in the washer last  Thur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dyed the orange and red fabric behind these letters.  One of my personal challenges for this year was to use my hand dyed in all my works this year and this is it for this piece

 

FOX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have cut all the words for this piece and pinned them in place.  I am now in the process of stitching the words down before I satin stitch around the out sides.   The light green and the rust words use my   own hand dyed work.

 

   Forest Fire  The base for this piece is a yard of Judy Roberts fabric.   I have added Angelina  to represent the light in the burning sky.   The fur trees are fuzed down and I will build on top to create the feeling of fire burning them.

Scrap Happy    I continue to add together strips and bits of fabric from the Ethel box to create squares for the new Scrap Happy quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Process    The red orange in the background is some of my hand dyed  on the  fabric.  I am now adding the hand stitching to this work as well.

 Collection IV  I am working on the hand stitching on this project now.  I call it Friends because I am using lots of items that my friends have given me.  The flower applique is from Tanya.

 

 

 

 Label Cards : Life  is Art    For all of us the creation of our individual self is an ongoing process.   doing it artfully is the big challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enduring    Some images  are just universal and  speak to all of us.     They last the test of time.

 

 

   All American     The  Grand Canyon and a native American chief- both are items that are a part of our culture and no other country.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, Fashion, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sing your songs

Back to school

Hello-

It’s September and the kids are back in the classrooms across this country.   New pencils, rulers,  and notebooks  now find their way into many   households.  I even purchased a new box of crayons for my self- My nod to the beginning of school and the beginning of fall for many of us.

 

IMG_1810It was also the fist Tues of the month this week and I had my regular meetings.  At the QuEGs meeting Lynn shared her new stash of fabrics that she had purchased on her trip to Alaska.   Linda shared her piece from her QBL class with  Jane Sassman .  Wonderful colors here.   IMG_1814Dory shared her new wall quilt.   I like her applique work with the birds and berries.

Then I went off to Susan’s and enjoyed her work with the garden and banners.IMG_1815   She is doing fun stuff with transparency.   Together we went to the Diva meeting.   Lots of great work going on here too.  Maureen shared her banner of Shobori  for the Huston show.  It is two feet wide and 24 feet long so this shot is only a small portions of the piece.   Regina is working away on this piece of machine work by adding beads.  It is for the Rhapsody in Blue show.   What a challenge.    IMG_1828This is layer two of Lori’s newest Fireweed piece.    I know she is just started with her many layers of work.   IMG_1839I recalled that there was a fall call for 10”X 10” work so I finished up this piece.  When I finished up I could not find the source for my memory.  So I emailed the gal in charge only to learn that it is an alternating yearly event.  I am prepared for next year.  This one is done and IMG_1836here is a second start.      I always was one who liked to have the work done well in advance.

Progress Report:   Birch Trees  This quilt is a rework and it is 14”w X 18” l.    The landscape was all that was on this work before I reworked it.     I added the canopy and the birch trees this week .  It helps the work a lot I think.   I really IMG_1844 learned that I need to slow down and just let some work rest on the shelf for a while before I rush to finish.

  Daily Practice IV  This  piece is 18”w X 24”l.    It has taken a little over 7 weeks to complete.   IMG_1853 With this work I limited myself to only three stitches – two variation’s on the Fly Stitch and the Chain Stitch.   IMG_1851The brass add on’s are from my friend Carol and they are   from her grandfather’s collection.

Daily Practice V   This is the new base for my next work.   I plan to add a few more circles before I begin   the hand stitching on this project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forest Fire This is the next piece in my elements series.   I was tickled by the idea that I burnt the fabric edges of the front trees in my effort to get the edge I wanted.   I feel I am ready to begin a bigger Fire work now.

 

 

 

 

Collection 3- So True This work is 16” w X 20” l.      It is my adaptation  of the technique suggested in the August/September  issue of Quilting Arts by Libby Williamson, titled Sip then Stitch.   She suggested the use of tea bags mounted on felt  for bases for machine work.    I used pattern tissue instead.  I can not follow directions without changing them to suit myself.     I really liked her use of zippers  as” add on’s”   and I did apply that idea.  IMG_1857 I also liked the idea of stitching down all the little bits and part of things around the studio to make something bigger and more interesting.   Our lives are made of lots of little bits and pieces so the work sort of represents that as well.

 

Collection IV- Friends    I continue to look at all the little parts and things in my studio and built a base for more stitching.    The title comes from the fact that there are already three little elements that friends have given to me on this surface  at this point.   I look at the purple applique at the top and think immediately of my friend Tanya.   The same can be said for several other little elements.

JIG    This work in in the washer at the moment.  I want  it  to fray out the edges of the words  and I followed Sharon’s technique to do that.   It will be clean and pressed next week.    

IMG_1854Scarp Happy  I started another in my ongoing works made from scarps.  Again I am pulling fabric from a box of material from my friend Ethel.   This is the forth bed sized quilt  from this box.  I have six of these  panel  pieces done  that I will eventually cut into small units.   I  think it will take over 25   panels to do the quilt  so I am just at the beginning of a  long process.

Label Cards- Sing your Song    When I was working on my cards this week I was aware that each of us is unique and we need to all celebrate that uniqueness.   Sing one’s own song is an important part of that.

 Fashion   As our culture grows and changes so too do our ideas of what is fashionable.  I an glad I did not live in a time when ones undergarments included  this much confinement.

Keep Creating

CarolIMG_1863

Birch Trees, Daily Practice, Forest Fires, JIG, Label Cards, Memory Map Quilts, Mulberry Memories, Truth, Word Forms

Mill Site Lake Retreat 2018

 

Hello,

Over the weekend I went to the Mill Site Lake fall retreat at Judy’s camp.  We had a good time swimming, kayaking  and hiking.   We went to the Red Wood Sanctuary and   that is were Nancy spotted these Indian Pipes.   There were lots of colorful mushrooms in that old growth wood too.IMG_1769  We enjoyed the big old trees and I was especially taken by the wonderful bark   textures.   I took lots of photos of those too.    The weather was pleasant and it was relaxing as the retreat always is.   I did a lot of hand work.

   Earlier this week I  wash the dye out  of the fabrics I have been   dyeing this summer.  All  fabrics have three layers of printing on them.   Building up the interest was one of my main goals for this summers work.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Collection III  This work is ready to be stretched now I think.   I took it to camp and spent a lot of time doing the hand work on it.IMG_1808I had a good time adding in the stitching and embellishing the work.   Now I can move onto the next one in this series.

JIG I just finished  the last of the machine quilting on this piece this week .   Now I need to add the facings and finish it up.

 IMG_1800Mulberry Memories    I am to the point now where I only have a little hand work to do on this piece and then I can add the facings here too.  I am gearing up for the group meetings next week.  That  always seems to give me finishing goals.

Re work- Birch Trees  IMG_1795  In the process of looking for work I want to put in the Broad Street Gallery Fiber Show, I came across this felted work and thought  it needed  additional work.   No center of interest.   So I am going to add Birch trees to the surface and see if  that action does not help the work.   The green netting that I have pinned to the top helps with color interest already.

Forest Fire I built the canopy for the trees to add to this work yesterday.  It all has fusible on the back  so when I add the tree trunks  to this and everything is in its final position I can iron it down and then stitch on top.   I will build from there forward to fill in the ” work.

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice IMG_1798 This work is almost finished.  I added beads and the brass flower forms that Carol gave me to the surface.  I am now to the point where I am doing “intense looking” at the work to see if it is complete or if it needs further modifications.

Label Card: Truth In this day and age of  telling half truths and open lying,  I think we need to be sure to speak clear honest unembellished truths.   No need to embellish the truth.

Keep Creating

Carol

Collections, Comfort, Daily Practice, Forest Fire, JIG, Kindness, Label Cards, Memory Map Quilts, Mulberry Memories, Word Forms

Summer

 

Hello,

The summer is in full bloom in this area.   Lots of flowers and vegetables are available in the farmers market.   It is a great time of the year.    The weather has been so pleasant that Liz and I enjoyed dyeing   yesterday.   Now I have three layers   of color and pattern on my fabrics.  That was my goal for this summer.  I only need to do the time consuming wash out now.

I also went on a trip to the Fenimore Museum with a couple of my buddies.      The museum has a great Native American  collection.  I enjoyed it very much .  This mask is only one of many  beautiful works of indian art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Mulberry Memories  I am moving alone on this project and now I am adding in the landscape and foliage to fill many areas.   It is the fun detail stage now.IMG_1754

 

JIG    All the text is raw edge appliqued down now.    I am beginning to do the reflective quilting now.

IMG_1755When the quilting is done I am going to run this work through the washer and dryer to get even more fraying of the edges of the words.

 

Collection 3   I am  now  to the hand step  of the work on this piece .  I enjoy  adding in little found objects as well IMG_1749 to add even more texture.

 

 

Wild Fire   This is the third in the elements series.   I am also distressed by the Wild Fires in the west so this seems like a good way to think about natures power of destruction as well as creation.   I am using Angelina to add the sparkle of fire light to this  work.

 

 

  Daily Practice I am nearing the end of the hand work on this piece I think.  Adding the embellishment of the metal and beads seems like a good place to stop I think.

 

Cards: Kindness    This is a wonderful concept.   I agree that Kindness is underrated.

Comfort  There are times when it is necessary   to be still and consider our  citation.  Then are  also time to move forward.  Most of us do not spend enough time contemplating and just act.

Keep Creating

Carol

Collections, Daily Practice, JIG, Label Cards, Memory Map Quilts, Mulberry Memories, Never too Late, Surface, Word Forms

Second Visit

Hello,

I enjoyed the Kimono Exhibit at Munson Williams Proctor so much I went back with Liz and Barb this week.     I am so glad I did as I was once again floored by the work.  I even saw a whole wall of kimonos that did not register in my consciousness at the end of the exhibit because my mind was so full of work.   Winter Mt Komona   I saw and paid attention to different details too.  It was a good experience.   Liz also had to pick up the wood block print that she had purchased  so the trip did double duty.    This bee print is a second pull that was on display  in the museum.

Liz and I also dyed this week.  I want to add one more layer of color on the fabric before I start to was it out so there are no images this week.

 

 

 

 

 

I have exciting news too.   My Label Quilt III was accepted for the Quilts= Art = Quilts show at the Auburn  Center for the Arts.   I am thrilled.

 

Progress Report:   JIG

IMG_1718   I am to the point  where I am stitching down the words on this piece.

IMG_1719The work is slow as there are so many sharp changes in direction.

Mulberry Memories    I am adding the images on the surface now.   This shot shows that the spokes of the bike need to be done in black as the silver does not show up.   I also need to add a lot of hand stitching to the work.

Collections 3      I started another one of these little works that  use bits and pieces of items in the  studio.   It too needs lots of hand work now.

Collections 4 IMG_1730   Then in my clean up I discovered another collections piece so I will try not  to bury it  and work away on this one as well.      In my future I  can see lots of setting on the patio and enjoying the summer in my future while I  do handwork.

IMG_1733New Work : Fire   I am a bit distressed by the fires in the west so I am going to do a piece with a forest burning.   I have pulled out these possible fabrics to think study on while I ponder this subject.

Daily Practice IMG_1727  This work gets it attention during the news every night so it is coming along nicely.   Cards: Surface    I just love texture and this card is a collection of many of them.

 

 

 

 

Never Too Late to Learn This little fortune is a powerful message for procrastinators I think.

 

Keep Creating

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

Collage, Dad's Barn, Daily Practice, Dreams, Persuasion, Ravens, Trinkets

June Day trip

 

Hello,

I love to do little short day trips in the summer.  This last week end I went with my daughter  to Sonnenburg Gardens  and to the Out Door Expo.  We had a good time an enjoyed the our excursion.There was a little animal show at the Expo and  this tortious  was one of the animals there.     His  textures are wonderful to my eye.     One needs to follow  ones interests as  you never know where they may lead.

IMG_1317Progress Report:  Ravens   I am redoing this piece with reflective quilting now.   The process is slow but the end results make for a better work.

Linda’s Luck    Working away on line quilting on this piece.   The  Progress is  time consuming.

Dad’s Barn   Being unsure of just what I want to do with this piece I am doing a lot of studying  at this point.

Persuasion IMG_1315 I am to the reflective step in quilting on this piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice   I am just starting this new work.     I am stitching down little brass flowers that my friend Carol gave to me as my first step.

Collage   I am doing collage again and this is my work for this week.     I could not resist playing with these strong graphic patterns.

Cards: TrinketIMG_1309 It seems like my drawers fill with little trinkets of so many items from various sources.   One dose like to keep these tiny memory  things.

 

Dreams    Everyone is unique and all our dreams are too.    One has got to love the diversity!

Keep Creating

Carol

One  last picture of one of the orkids from the gardens.

Carrol Iowa, Dad's Barn, Daily Practice, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), IV, Modern, Perception, Persuasion, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Ravens, Self Knowledge, Word Forms

Taking stock

 

Hello,

We are beginning to enjoy the wonders of summer.   These poppies are in Susan’s garden and look wonderful.    This was the first full week of June and I had three meetings.   QuEG’s meant on Tuesday morning.  It was a small group but folks had lots to share.IMG_1191Linda  C  is working on a baby quilt for her niece.   Elephants are the nursery theme.  Liz is working on her transparency piece and it is looking good.   IMG_1199Sue Ellen is playing with her collection on non cotton fabrics. IMG_1192 And there is a row by row project in the works too.

I went from the meeting to Moravia and spent a wonderful afternoon working with Susan.  We then went off to the Diva meeting where more things were cooking. IMG_1207Donna has a new batch of mirrors that she has completed.  She sure knows how to use Fimo effectively.     IMG_1209Lori is creating portraits with her needle now.     Noel is doing portraits too- but with quilt a different bent.   Her fabric faces are stretch and very whimsical.

IMG_1216Yesterday I went off to the FAB meeting.  Judy and Patti are knitting like crazy and Sharon has finished her Relative quilt now.

Because of all these meetings I spent a lot of time in the car alone.   This plus sorting through work looking for a specific piece brought up some issues.     Susan wisely said of reworking pieces one is “playing with your younger self.”   What a grand way to look at the process of redoing works that do not quite make the grade.       Time away from work allows one to look with new eyes at the pieces and I often see things I wish I had done differently.    I can spot the problems in some cases too.   In my sorting and musing I have decided I will return to some works in the hope of making them stronger.

Progress Report: Perception Daily    This work is 30” w X 46” l.   It is a part of the text series .     One of the challenges that Liz and I made for our selves this year was to use some of the fabric that we hand dyed.   All the material except the dark turquoise fabric in the background is something that I altered.    IMG_1255   I did reflective quilting around all the words after I had raw edge appliqued down the words. IMG_1258

Daily Practice I   I finally stretched all the finished Daily Practice work  this week.   This piece is 18″ w X 24″ l. IMG_1238   The base of this one is a piece of fabric that was a wipe  up cloth at one of my print sessions last summer.   The lace is from grandmothers collection and I hand dyed it last summer as well.IMG_1239

 

 

Daily  Practice II       This piece is 16″ w X 18″ l.      The base for this work is several  trimmed tans that  looked good together.    IMG_1232  This piece has lots of buttons on it for textural contrast.IMG_1233

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Daily Practice III      This work is 18″ w X 24″ l.   The purple background is a commercial fabric and all the other material added on top is some I have altered.   They are also scraps left over from other projects.    IMG_1247  I have always been fascinated by negative space and in using those negatives this way they become positive spaces.   Stitches and pompoms are the textural elements of this piece. IMG_1246

Daily Practice IV 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The  orange part  base of the  background isone of the  shibori projects Liz and I tried last summer.   The metal flowers are from Carol.

Rocky Shore I worked forward on Water – the class assignments this week.   The hand painted   sky and  water have been stitched down and the three different types of foam have also been applied.IMG_1227    One foam is made from Angelina, a second is florist plastic that was painted with opalescent paint and the third was a textured plastic ribbon that I ironed.     I will move on to the next element next week and finish all the elements at the end of the class.

 

IMG_1261Mulberry Memories    This work has become a problem for me.  I tried to put too much into the top for the size of the piece.     It has become impossible for the viewer to “read”.     Therefore I have decided to scarp this  particular  work and start again using the same ideas plus a few others and create two or perhaps  a  three units  to represent this time and geography  of my life.     We lived in this location for 5 years and there are lots of memories.

Ravens  I thought that this work was finished last week and I presented it as such.  But a  second study this week as convinced me that it needs more quilting.   The gals at QuEGs pushed this idea too.   So I am taking the time to make these additions.

IMG_1251Persuasion I have been busy doing pebble quilting on this  text piece.   I am ready to start reflective quilting on it now.

Dad’s Barn  I came across the orange and yellow base in one of my boxes from  Ethel.  I pinned it to the pin wall and it hung there for several weeks.  In thumbing through a sketchbook I came across of the old barn on Dad’s Farm and though I would like to do a work about that.  The two came together.  I also wanted to do some more thread painting  so I drew our some swallows on wash away and started them.IMG_1185   After the backs were done I added the chest and beaks.IMG_1187   I have learned that I do not need to do the legs as they are so slender that they do not hold up well after washing and they seldom are in the position I want so I add them when I put the work together.     The birds are washed and dried and ready for mounting on the image.  I need to decide how I am going to add one of them to the work now.

 

 

 

New Work IMG_1225I am trying to pay attention to shape and contrast with this work.  It is made up of mostly the cut-away’s  of several  older pieces.    Again my love of the negative spaces.

Label Cards Modern    I became weary of the word Modern when I was about 10.  I was helping Mom and Aunt Marci clean grandfather’s cabin.  We were taking  The books off the shelf sorting and dusting them.     I came a pone  one called “ Modern Science” and I flipped it open.  It revealed a drawing of  all of the parts of atom with the Neutrons, Protons and Electrons labeled.   Knowing there were more I decided to always  be wary of things labeled as “Modern”.

Self Knowledge     One develops an understanding that they are unique entities separate from others at a  young age.    But the real development of self acceptance takes years and for some never occurs.

Keep Crating Friends

Carol