Category Archives: Spring Song

Circuits, Felt Work, Hand work, Nail Castings, Pebble Pile, Spring Song

Happy Chinese New Year of the Goat/ Ram

IMG_2475_thumb.jpg Hello,

Here in upstate New York we are deep in snow.   The gate is 24″ off the ground and you can hardly see the top of it in this shot.

Today is the first day of the new year of the Goat/Ram if you  celebrate the Chinese system.  Lots of fire crackers, dragon dancing and paper money will be part of the goings on in many places today.   The Goat is the fifth in the symbol system.  Folks who are 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 this year are also part of the goat clan.   Goat people are said to be calm, gentle, creative , honest, thoughtful, persevering and frank.    This sounds like a good group to me.

IMG_2481   I spent one day this week visiting with my friend Cheri.  We took a little time to visit the Art Center where her piece had won a first place in the art show that is up  there now.   She also did someIMG_2479_thumb.jpgwork with stenciled pieces she did last summer.   I spent my morning doing IMG_2480_thumb.jpgcollage work and came out with about four pieces that I think I am finished with.

I spent a lot of time in the studio this week too.  It has been so snowy and cold it is hard to feel like moving around too much.

Progress Report:IMG_2492.jpgSpring Song    I started this work last week.   I feel like the free motion work adds more definition to the piece.  I like how the finished work looks.  I think I will not build my next piece onIMG_2494 - CopyIMG_2495 - CopyIMG_2496 - Copy wool felt as the felting process stretches the felt too much and I can not get this to be as flat as I want it to be.  I will work on woven wool or cotton next time.  I am sure I learn lots of stuff from my mistakes.

Pebble Pile    I was  finished with this work  from  last week too.  It is done now.

IMG_2498  IIMG_2499_thumb.jpg like how the three dimensional felted units work with the flat ones.  Both projects in felting were  a good growing experiences for me.  I will try it again sooner next time.

Nail CastingsIMG_2489  I am only showing a detail of this work this week. There are so very many hand stitches  I do not know !    But I sure like trying new ones.  How the stitches interact with one another is also  enjoyable.   Line  patters are a part of my self  challenge for this year and this project is filling that bill.

Circuits   I am nowIMG_2491_thumb.jpg now done with the machine quilting on this piece and I am adding the boarders.  I am sure I will complete it in a day or two as I only need to do the facings and the sleeve now.

IMG_2484_thumb.jpg Return   I think I know were want to go with this work  now.  I am going to build some ruins on top of the background that I started a few weeks ago.   It will come together this week I hope.

New work   I started a new piece yesterday in the collage style that the rocks wereIMG_2485_thumb.jpg constructed alone.  This time I stared with the  multi/red fabric  that is in the center.   It is only in the pin up stage now and will change a lot before I begin to sew.   I just wanted to try not basing a project on any special images this time.    It is a different kind of challenge for me.    I am trying our one more new thing.  This time I am building the project on canvas instead of buckram.   I will keep folks posted as to the success or failure of this.

Keep Creating

Carol

Circuits, Hand work, Pebble Pile, Rustic Rambles I, Rustic Rambles II, Spring Song, Stretch Works

Valentines Day

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IMG_2436 Hello,

I have finished and sent my Valentines Day Cards.  The making is the best part of the whole event from my point of view.   It is always a fun excuse to get out the paper and play with it.   I do not care if I get any response from doing these- the joy of making is all I really want anyway.

This week has been a full one for me as they all seem to be.IMG_2439I went to visit my friend Ethel and we spent a fine day playing with felting.  I do enjoy the process and do not take time to do that very often.  I started out making a background for the pebble like  felted units that I made  on the  play day at the Blue Moon in the fall. IMG_2471   Ethel suggested that I slice the units in half to add to the surface.  I really like that idea and would not have even thought of doing that without IMG_2465_thumb.jpgmy play time with her.    Another point of view is always a good thing.       After lunch I tried a whole new picture like image in felt.  What fun.  I ran out of energy and time before I completed it, but I am sure I will finish the bird and flowers later.

IMG_2441  Ethel created this wonderful felted bag.  I love the soft colors and the button she found is just perfect for its job here.   It was a fun and productive day.   We have set a date to do something similar next month.

IMG_2456.jpgProgress Report:   Rustic Rampaging I  & II  I wanted to enter a art completion were all the work had to be mounted and framed so I did a set of pieces that would fit into that format.  I thought why not try stretching my work on a frame like one does canvas for a painting.    The first piece show here is Rustic Rampaging II – and it is not stretched.    It is ready for that step as I did the two works at the same time, but I did not have a canvas so I could not do that step until I went out and got the materials.  IMG_2470 This is Rustic Rampaging I. The process is  is all experimenting  so I am learning things.   For example -the next time I will make the piece just  a bit bigger as I like how the side were I could rap the project all the way around to the back much better then  were I just had to attached it to the side.

IMG_2464Circuits   I am finally finished with the  hand stitching on this project.   It was enjoyable,, but a slow process.  Now I need to add it to the quilt top.  That portion  will be a piecing project for this week.

Paint Play   When Cris WinterIMG_2463_thumb.jpg came to visit a few weeks ago she gave me a little gift that was work on canvas and I really liked the look.  So I did a little playing in a similar style this week.  It too will get stretched around a frame when I am done with some hand work on the surface.

IMG_2461Old work Revisited   I finally looked again at this work I had started last spring.   This time I saw a way to go forward with it.  The red on the side is added and now I will work on the embellishment to pull the work together.   Sometimes one has to just set work aside for a while and look at it again later with fresh eyes.

Keep Creating

Carol