Category Archives: Goddess Series

25 Million Stitches Project, Childhood Memories, Creative Assistants, Owl, Scrap Happy Quilts, small god

Happy Kwanzaa

December 26, 2019 admin

Hello,
I hope the holidays are being filled with joy and delight for all of you. Kwanza begins today and for those who celebrate it, enjoy. This time of year one takes stock of all the people who mean something to each one of us. As I write each holiday card I think of old friends and miss those who are on longer part of my life.

This week was full of many for me with lots of family events and for that I am truly grateful. I did finish Nick Quilt on Tues eve so I really meant my goal.

Progress Report: Owl quilt for Nick This queen sized quilt proved to be a struggle when it came to appliqueing the owl down. It is difficult to roll the quilt tight enough to fit under the arm of the machine and still be able to turn it to do the machine work. Nick and Haily did seem to like it however.

Small God This work is 23″ W X 28.5 “ long. I found the blue woven fabric when I was pulling fabric for the back of Nicks ‘s Owl and set it aside.

So it did not take long to add it to the sides of the already stitched piece. I did the drawing for this work over two years ago. Sometimes I just have to wait for the fabric to show up to complete the task.

Scrap Happy I just keep inching along on this project. I surely will finish it soon.

25 Million Stitches Project

I am working away on the figures now and only need to add the work HOPE in the center of the circle and complete the figures.

Creative Assistants These little guys just keep rolling off the work table. I will need to stop and count sometime soon.

Childhood Memories: Yellowstone Critters
Mom was a continuous explore and constant teacher. We learned the wild flowers in Yellowstone just like back in the Junction. I could quickly identify Bear Grass, Fire Weed and Shooting Stars. We walked up the high way one day and spent the afternoon exploring a lily pond. Gene just wanted to throw in rocks, something he seemed to driven to do with any body of water. One day we saw a solo Buffalo in a small meadow off the road. Mom charged us to take note of how high the buffalo was in relationship to a small tree there. On a later day we stopped the car and walked across the meadow up to the tree. I realized that my sense of scale was way off as I could only reach the branch that seemed to be level with the buffalo’s hump, if Dad boosted me a bit. They are very big animals!

On one of our outings we saw a Porcupine. He was very shy and ran away before Mom could get a photo.

One of our hikes revealed a Fire Ant mound. The nest was built of pine needles to help it suede water, Mom said. The mound also made it possible for some of the aunts to weather the winter. The mound was so tall it reached about Gene’s waste and was three feet across. The bite of those ants hurt a lot too.
One of our outings was up to a fire lookout station. The station was above the tree line and one could see across tree tops and peeks in all directions. There was a large brass device in the center of the room that cold be turned in any direction with a little window that the ranger then lined up with smoke so the fire could be pinpointed. The Range also gave us his binoculars and pointed out a Balled Eagle nest with 3 young all brown birds in it. They do not get white head feathers until they are three years old. They were only six weeks old he told us. Yellowstone was a great experience for me as a kid.

I am stating to think about my goals for 2020.

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, Jumping Off Place, small god, Wool Rounds

Happy Halloween

October 31, 2019 admin

Happy Halloween,
The color here is beautiful, but it will be raining this evening with lots of wind. Not great weather for the little costumed children and I am sure it will change our landscape.

I have had a good week. I went down to Millport last Friday to spend a day playing at Regina’s studio.

Liz is holding up one of Regina’s new tops. I am so happy to she her cutting up her fabric. Regina printed all the fabrics.

I also spent an afternoon with Tanya this week. She is doing eco -dyeing with silk. This is her beautiful stash so far. She is experimenting and exploring.
I did a trunks show for the Mohawk Valley Quilters this week too. It was fun preparing for that as I try to approach each talk with a little bit different slant. I discover something about myself with each talk too. I still need to put away some of the work.

Progress Report: Wool Rounds

The wool units are all stitched and they needed a good foundation to show them off. So I spent a lot of time this week building up a base.

It is made from layers of organza in earth tones that I quilted in place. I will pin the rounds in place next and stitch them down.

Applique- small god I have finally started working away on this piece. I think I did the original drawing over a year ago. The beautiful woven red piece from Guatemala that Sharron gave me, was what I needed to get moving I guess. The pattern is enlarged and I am cutting out the units to applique down now.

Jumping Off Place I did more hand work on this piece this week. It has not gotten any attention in a while, but now it is the top of the pile of hand projects.

Childhood Memories- Kindergarten

I started my school career when we lived in Columbus Junction. It was all day Kindergarten that I attended along with lots of other excited young people. I remember the first day of school where I wore a red buffalo check gamin dress that Grandmother Ester had made for me. I was so prod. There were three girls in the class with Carolyn for first names. Carolyn Reed, Carolyn Woods and Carolyn Hall, but I was the only Carol. There was a big calendar in the front of the room and every day we gathered around it to select a symbol of the weather- clouds, rain, snow, a smiling sun ect to put on the correct day. We learned the days of the weeks an the months of the year. There was nap time after lunch and if you had earned the privilege you got to spread your rug under the grand pinto on near the windows . I only remember getting that pleasure once. Art class was in the afternoon with Miss Clark just before we went home. I remember cutting out Jack-o-lanterns from orange construction paper and cutting very small triangles out for eyes. Then on the back we put a button under a soda bottle cap that we taped down behind those cut out triangles so the buttons would move if you shook the paper pumpkin.
In the spring we took a field trip. We walked around to the back of the school and carefully took a set of steep wooden switch back stairs down the long hill to the road. We then crossed the main street and walked on down the hill downtown into the Dr’s office. There we each got a Polio Shot. The needle looked huge to my young eyes. I did not cry but many did. Mom had taken me to visit an acquaintance of one of the folks she knew. They had a daughter. The girl was 8 and confined to an iron lung. It filled the room and she was never going to leave that huge, noisy mechanical tube for the rest of her life. She could talk, eat and turn her head , but that was all the movement she knew. I learned then that I would do just about anything not to have that be my fate. I am glad that the disease is almost a thing of the past now.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, Along the Shore, Creative Assistants, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Label Cards, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), small god, WAVE, Word Forms

March Begins

March 7, 2019 admin

Hello,

As the photo shows we are still having winter here. The first day of March it did snow and it is alternating between sun shine and snow fall around here now. The deep blue shadows that the sun creates on the white surface never seem to lose there wonder for me.

Along with a new month there are meetings. The Finger Lakes Fiber Artists meant on Sat. This is a shot of Marcia’s quilt. We had a good meeting with lots of decisions about our future. Liz has now finished quilting her school days quilt. Angela is taking a class on line dealing with felting. She has learned how to mix the fibers and now she can create any color she wishes. Beverly shared this beauty that is full of her hand dyed fabrics. Marla shared her rug hooking project.

Pat finished this new big piece. This work is the newest piece in her series using only two fabrics that she has created. I think it is very powerful. Mary shared a work she started in a workshop on silk work. She altered it to fit what she wanted to express. QuEG’s meant on Tues. There were only three of us but we still found a lot to share. This is a shot of Corrine’s newest book cover. She also shared this beautiful scarf that is felted work on a sorry base. She had a whole collection she had purchased as gifts. The idea is worth some exploration. Angela had her Sax keys piece that she hand quilted. It is a whole cloth quilt that she created in a class at QBL two summers ago.

This is a felted and stitched book jacket that Angela did too.

The Diva’s also meant on Tues. Regina showed us this new top that she had created from three prints that she had made in a class at QBL2 . She also shared this work with indigo she has made with a stamp on top. Joan shared some collages that she is building in prep for a new work. It was a good meeting, even though attendance was small at this gathering too.

Progress Report: small god – Zapoteck This little quilt is 23” w X 32” l. It is based on a sculpture that I saw in Oaxaca at the ruins last month. All the parts are appliqued down with a wide satin stitch. I may created some more work from my photos. of other sculptures.

Shore Line This work is coming along nicely. I must have it done before the 20th of March so there is a little pressure.

Wave This is a good example of how one can see in a photo problems one can not realize when looking at the subject under natural conditions. The picture clearly shows that there is not enough contrast between the words and the background. I could not quite see that in reality. So I have pulled out new pieces for the background and I will redo it. Finding something new to apply to the quilted background however may prove to be more of a challenge.

Creative Assistants I finished up 15 more of these little guys for this summer.

Snow Dye The snow dyeing resulted in these beautiful fabrics.

Starfish I keep doing the knots on the star fish. I think this one is ready to face and apply to the background.

3 X 3 C-2 This square is mostly complete now. This bit of Daily Practice is going very well.

3 X 3 C-1 This square is about half done at this point. The process is very calming for me.

Label Cards: Bird Song Despite the snow, I have heard lots of bird songs when I have been out of doors of late. It is encouraging.

Stretching I like to stretch my mind and keep it limber. And I would disagree with this statement for the most part. But I have been know to take on more than I really should by stretching the idea too much.

Keep Creating

Carol

3X3, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Label Cards, SAQA Blocks, small god, WAVE

Final Day of February

February 28, 2019 admin

Hello,

I know I though that I would not be posting today, but due to the heavy wet show Liz and I stayed home instead of going off to a play day. Regina said we would try again later in the spring. I did take advantage of snow and dyed some this morning . After the last batch came out so pale I really added more dye this time. I will post the results next week. FAD meant yesterday and Sharon had a lot to share. She is doing a commission of six quilts made from a woman’s clothing . I’d say it was a big challenge. This is the first.

Progress Report: Starfish II I continued to work on this second starfish piece.this week. The first is all packed and ready to ship to the SAQA auction some time next week. I may or may not finish this work any time soon as it is not due until next spring, but I always like to have a little project that I can pick up and work on if I need some think time.

small god I finally got going on this piece. It is based on a photo that I took in the museum at Monty Albume on my trip to Oaxaca. I have drawn out all the patterns and now need to cut them out in fabric and applique them on top.

Wave I am ready to start a new text piece. The word pattern is done( the white with green lines) and I made all these blue and aqua curie cut sections to cut the words from.

3 X 3 A-3 Tuesday I finished this block. So I moved right on to the next block.

3X3 C-2 This is the fifth block so I am half way along on this project now. I was a bit panicked as I thought the completed project was due at the end of March- but I learned it is not due until the end of May. I am enjoying the process.

Capture ScarvesI got busy on some new scarves when I realized that March is starting tomorrow. I am off to visit with Chris, the woman who sells these for me and so I need to have some to pass her way. These still need the fabric neck units added to them.

Label cards: Little Know Our world is so very vast I feel overwhelmed some times. There is so much I do not know about so many things. One needs to keep exploring and expanding one’s mind.

Sewing OperationsI was writing out the steps for how to use the sewing machine for the girl scouts and I realized that there are many little operations in doing simple sewing events. This is a card to honor that idea.

Keep Creating

Carol

Acanthite, Caramelized, New Iris, Oak Leaves, Out of the Dark, Out the Window, Pomegranate, Red Nebula, Yellowstone

Realisations

November 20, 2014 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

I feel so Positive when I think about my work. I did a solo trunk show yesterday for the North Syracuse Art Guild titled

Out the Window 16.5" X 21.5" $125.00 — Out the Window
16.5″ X 21.5″
$125.00

” Your Art /My Art”. In that lecture/ trunks show, I compared my work to the many styles and types of work that the members use. In doing so I really realized how much I draw from the other art categories to get my ideas across. I draw directly on the fabric with pencils, crayons and markers. I use my machine as a drawing tool too. I Paint with acrylic,water color and dye on the surface when I need to create a special effect. I print on the surface using silk screens, stamping and stencils to get images I want on the work. I use some weaving techniques like felting, silk papers and frapping. I often use collage techniques to build up my surfaces with

Red Nebula 18" X 24" — Red Nebula
18″ X 24″

textures and transparencies and different already textured fabrics like velvet and satins. I even embellish with old jewelry on occasion. I am thankful that I get to use from all the different art areas to full fill my creative drive. I realized too that I have been using my experiences and interests to fuel my work for most of my life. Doing a presentation like this is a good way to reflect and re evaluate oneself.

Oak Leaves 45" X 30" $ 350.00 — Oak Leaves
45″ X 30″
$ 350.00

I now have the monster job of returning all the work back into the category packs that I store them in. I feel so very thankful that I am working in so many ways to fulfill my creative ideas.

Acanthite: Foundations XXIV 18" X 23" $ 150.00 — Acanthite: Foundations XXIV
18″ X 23″
$ 150.00

Progress Report: Acanthite :Foundation 24 This quilt is went together very quickly for me. This stone added some problems as some of the areas where a sold white. I wanted to be sure to use velvet and now whale corduroy on this work to show the wonderful textures they add to the surface. There were also lots of cracks on the surface that added interest to this one.

This shot also shows some of the chenille yarn( dark green) and some silk paper( blue- near the top).

Broadcasting I am enjoying doing the hand work on this piece. Most of the saxaphone pads are stitched down now and I am adding beads and french knots to the surface. I have added some reflective quilting to the surface too. This work is going along well at the moment with each actions leading to the next.

Yellowstone The ease that Broadcasting is a great contrast with my slow process on this work. I think I finally have the map portions the correct size and location. I will do the paint step for that and then I will move forward. I also realized that the piece is too pale. Yellowstone has lots of forest and I want to project that feel too so I pulled out dark green organza ( pinned to the left) and adding that will help me go forward I hope.

The Blues This work just needs time as the hand work is a slow thing. I am playing with three of different types of stitches- the chain stitch, the blanket stitch and the fly stitch. I am varying the size of the stitches to add interest.

Caramelized This is a new work that is still in the shifting and pinning stage. I melted the Tyvec that I painted in the fall colors last week, with the iron between sheets of parchment paper. The melt results are so much fun because they are uncontrollable. Mixing them with silk paper makes me think of carmel and melting butter. That is were the title came from. I am enjoying the play.

Keep Creating

Carol

Blooming Bacteria, on the Road to Dry Falls, Wind Fall

August 16, 2013 Nature is Lush

August 16, 2013 admin 1 Comment

Hello followers,

I am always amazed by the growth that happens every summer. These beautiful flowers are at the top of some swamp loving plat that is nearly six feet tall. They are annuals and the amount of energy it takes to grow from a small seed to this towering colorful plant just makes me stop in my tracks.

I have had a busy week as the kids are getting ready for a return to school and we all seem to be in a rush to do all summer activities that we have put off thinking there was still time for them in the future . With that though in mind I will tell you that there were be no post next week as I am off for a trip to Ohio next week.

This week included a play day with my friend Cheri. We painted fabric on Wed. Cheri did the two pieces and I did the single one. This is only the first step of many so we will be getting together again. It is always fun to experiment with a fellow artist and we had a good time even though it rained off and on all day.

I am putting most of my efforts into preparation for the “Sticks and Stones” show at the Americana Winery now. It will be hung on Wed next week. I am doing a bit of rework and additional quilting to some of my Grand Canyon works for that show. Images will appear in the next post.

Wind Fall 23" X 42" $245.00 — Wind Fall
23″ X 42″
$245.00

Progress Report: Wind Fall I am very happy with how this quilt turned out. All the twigs that I pick up after the wind storm work well on this curved pieced background. I had a lot of fun doing all the hand stitching as well. The only real problem with this quilt is it must be rolled and not folded as the sticks will break if it is folded.

I like all the color changes that are present in the tan twigs- from very dark brown to a cream color- some times on the same branch.

I machine drew in branches in the dark areas of this work to add bit more interest too.

The Machine drawing came about because I felt that the quilt needed a bit of horizontal action to contrast the strong verticals present in the sticks and most of the other quilting.

Synapse Firing 30" X 47.5" $ 360.00 — Synapse Firing
30″ X 47.5″
$ 360.00

Synapse Firing I am happy with how this quilt came out. I have found that when I am exploring new territory I can only go so far before I need to fall back to familiar ground were I know what to do. Such was the case with this work that I created at QBL. I was playing and working on all the rock/texture stuff and I needed to feel safe again- so I pulled out this fabric that I had purchased from Randy last summer and put this quilt together. I quilted this with silver thread and then added a variegated around the out side of the work .

On the Road to Dry Falls
This is the work I was constructing when I did Synapse Firing. It is highly textured with fabric that is wadded and then pressed in the wadded state before it is sewn to the surface. I also used a satin fabric ( dark brown) that was shinny on one side and matt on the other to add additional texture. I tore strips of fabric and left the raw edges exposed for a further texture. I am enjoying the free motion quilt drawing process to continue the wrought feel of the rock too. At this point I am more concerned with the way the eye does not quite flow across surface as I intended then I am with the texture parts. There is always work to do.

Blooming Bacteria This quilt I started before QBL as I wanted to keep my direction with this idea. I am adding the black button wholes on top by hand now. They really add a wonderful texture to the surface of this piece. It will take a long time to complete it however as the hand work is quite slow. I do think the time and effort it worth it however.

Please remember there will be no post next week.

Keep Creating

Carol

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

March 28, 2013 Daffodils

March 28, 2013 admin

Hello,

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

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

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

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

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

I hope spring is filling everyone’s heart.

Keep Creating

Carol

Diva Meetings, Goddess Series, Madeum Peli, Purple Trees

Feb 7, 2013 Winter Work

February 7, 2013 admin

Hello Readers,

It is full winter here in up state New York. Lots of snow all around and cold to keep one inside and working in the studio. We are set to get a big snow storm tomorrow so I look forward to even more Occupassion- Linda Twichell’s new word for the work and play approach that I feel when I am in the studio. (One cans see she put occupation and passion together to get this new word)

I went to my creative quilting meetings on Tuesday this week. I enjoyed talking and seeing what my peers have been doing too. Alice has been working with some fantastic Zebra fabric that a friend had passed to her. I enjoy her playful style. Cheri had some wonderful canvas work that she has been doing too. I am only sorry that I shot this image from the side and not strait on. This quilt was created after her trip to Ireland and is of a area where Fairies gather. I enjoy this group as much for there support as for their diversity. One gal is making a fabric book for her grand daughter. She does an excellent job printing on fabric I think. Then my camera battery died so I do not have any more photos of the many other exciting projects shown. I should know to carry the spare battery with me, I guess that this is the lesson.

Progress Report: Rusty Words

Rusty Wordsfull — Rusty Words
22.5 “X 44”

This piece was to be one of my two allowed entries for the Text Message contest- but it is too slender. I though I had allowed enough for trimming- but I guess not. I stamped letters on interfacing ( the white)in three colors so the words are really lost. I like the final effect even though it will not fit the show.

Madam Peli is the volcano fire goddess of the Hawaiian Islands. I really had fun doing this quilt even though I did not get it finished in time for the goddess show. I am still playing with the wavy edges on my work. That plus the color really made me think of magna flowing up from the earths core- therefore I just pushed the idea to get my goddess feel by adding the organza arms and hands. I used a bit of the painted wonder under on this work as well to show how it looks and to give a feeling of the transparency of fire sometimes. The organza hands and arms sort of give the feel of spirits or steam in the volcano itself. I used copper metallic thread here to promote the fire feel.

Soy Wax Project Last week I had not washed the water solvable thread out of this fabric. Now that step is done and the soy wax was washed out with hot water and them ironed. I really like how this looks. Although I am eager to use it I will wait to start until I have shown it to my friend Ethel before I cut it up. Mean while I have done a few sketches in the sketch book of ideas for the sewing step for a second or third project using this technique.

DMC Challenge- Purple Tree After finishing up Twilight Trees last week I was ready to begin the DMC challenge. I started with the three fabrics I had selected because if it turns out too disastrous I could always pitch it and start again. I have a full yard of my own colors and only a half of the other two gals stuff. Shifting to this more complex tree has proven to be more difficult than I expected. Getting the slender strips is not the problem- it is getting the cuts to fit together in the way I think they should that is proving to be the problem. I feel I am really growing from this project. I m glad I have not put off starting and that I have a long time before the final is due.

Tsunami Wash Up This project got framed yesterday. I wanted to finish this because I was having a little show for one my friends who had had given me many little plastic items that I used in this project. The red is from one of the plastic bags that our news paper comes in. The big yellow pieces are cut from a plastic bottle.

New Project – Stamped Out I started this project because I trying to add paper into my tops for additional texture. I captured stamps between two sheets of nylon net. Then I added additional stamps on top of the captured ones and put all of them on a blue fabric. I put it all together in my usual manner and I am ready to assemble the units. They may get shuffled before I do the final. It has proven to be a fun bit of assembly for me.

Wonder Under- second application. I am still still fascinated by the wonder under that I painted last week. So when I realized that I had finished with the Tsunami Wash Up work and that was the only hand work I had going- I though I would use this. I will just embellish with stitches on the fabric that had the Wonder Under ironed to it. In looking at the fabric I think I will add beads to the surface as well.

Auction Piece SAQA has a 12″ square block auction every year to raise funds for on going projects. When I read about the call for entries I decided to start my work for this year. I spent some time looking through my stash and found some small printed fabrics and decided to use them as my starting off place. By the end of the afternoon I had a piece I was happy with and so I put the little top together. I know it is not due until April- but I always liek to have things done ahead of time.

I am really into Occupassion at the moment. I hope winter is doing that for you as well.

Keep Creating

Hugs

Carol

Bird Goddesses, Goddess Series, ISIS quilt, Madum Peli, Motherhood Maze, Truquoise Street Studio

January 31,2013 Opening

January 31, 2013 admin

Hello Friends,

Here in central New York the wind is blowing up a storm as a cold front from the north hits a worm front form the south. Trees are bending and swaying and some tree limbs have blown down. The snow has been blown horizontally off and on this afternoon. I am glad to be inside working in my studio today!

The Opening was Sunday afternoon and it went well. I was delighted by the many friends that appeared from all parts of my life. My daughter and grandson appeared early in the afternoon and my husband along with several of the folks that he works with near the end of the event. My friends from school, from Social Art and fellow quilters also showed up to support me and enjoy the wonderful banquet that the director provided. I was delighted to discover that I have now sold two of my works, the second being the Kachina Sun quilt that was on the post card. It can be very affirming for an artist like my self to sell a work to a total stranger.

I think that Spider Woman’s Spires looks really strong on the brick wall background too.

The placement of Motherhood Maze so it is seen from the doorway as you enter the dinning area makes it one of the first works you see. I think I talked about it more as an individual piece then any of the others. I am still flying high from the experience.

Progress Report: Play Day
Barbara invited me to the Turquoise Studio to have a play day on Thur last week. We were working with gesso- stenciling and stamping with it . I put on it on fabric and felt and Barbara mostly applied it to stretched canvas. After the gesso was dry in the afternoon we painted the surfaces. The gesso resisted the paint a bit and that changed the color as well as the texture. I was so excited by the results that I created a top with some of the altered fabric already.

I am calling this Eventide. I used all of one of the turquoise felt pieces in this as well as a second painted piece. The white is the pure gesso. The turquoise felt has been painted with purple and blue acrylic paint.

Pepe’ I started this quilt before the show but did not get it finished. It too is a goddess quilt as Pepe’ is the Hawaiian goddess of the vocano. I have started the quilting with a copper metallic thread in a swirling pattern. But the thread kept breaking so I put the thread on the bobbin and I have been quilting from the back side. It is just a little scary to do it this way but the braking is not happening now. The ghost like color changes shown here in this close up come from using painted fusible web that I painted orange and brown. I keep learning new tricks along the way and that is exciting for me.

Painted Fusible Web I went off to my friend Ethel and had a second play day this week. She and I painted the fusible web. I did blue, orange and yellow, black and a pink gold pieces. I do not know where I will use most of this but it did the trick for the Pepe piece. I sure had fun and one can never have too many tools in the creative tool box.

Soy Wax Resist This was another thing Ethel and I played with. We had both read about this technique in the February/March issue of Quilting Arts Magazine- issue 61. The article is by Susan Purney Mark. We followed the instructions and did the sewing step first . Then we painted with soy wax on the mountains and tried not to get the wax in the valleys were the tread was. The next step was to paint in the dye in thous valleys. It is batching now so the final images will not appear until next week. This second shot shows how the dye penetrates to through the batting to the back. The dye will all wash away as the batting is synthetic and the dye will not adhere. The same batting can be reused for a second try of this method. Ethel and I plan to do just that.

Tsunami Wash Up I have been hand stitching down mostly plastic objects like the ones I have seen in photos of the plastics that have been washing ashore on the west cost do to the Tsunami last year. We are really polluting our environment and events like this really play that up. We have too much plastic in our lives. It does not break down into reusable materials like natural objects. So were does it go? Sure it gets broken and ground into smaller and smaller bits. Sometimes birds and fish eat it. What are the effects on those creatures? Do we end up with it in ourselves when we eat sea food? How dangerous is that? What are the long term effects? I do not have any answers, just lots of questions.

Keep Creating

Carol

Bird Goddesses, Felt Work, Goddess Series, Madum Peli, Sprider Woman's Twin Towers, Stump Men, Trees, Twilight Trees

January 24, 2013 The show- Goddesses:Text to Textiles

January 24, 2013 admin

Hello-

The show is all hung. I will admit that I am very pleased with how the thing looks. As the creator of this work, I had never viewed as a group. I do not have a big enough space to even spread it all out in one room. I was quite surprised by the fact that Lauren insisted we hang them all, and by how well they all worked together. This shot at the top is of three of the quilts and three of Lauren’s baskets below. It was a fun experience doing the work with her too as she was so very excited by my pieces. She had asked me to do the show after seeing only one piece of my work. This third shot with the pink wall behind it is in the bar room of the resterant. She also has pointed me in several other directions for places to contact about future shows too. It was a very up lifting day for me. These photos do not show all the work I will add more next week. I now look forward to the opening on Sunday.

Progress Report:Spiraling Out

Spiriling Out — Spiraling Out
43 ” X 55″

This quilt is finished now. I added a lot more quilting to the surface this week and I like how that pulls it together. This work was created do primary because of the silk screen material that I had purchased from randy Kennan this summer. I really liked the action in the fabric and tried to repeat some of the patterns in the quilting patterns I added. The close up shows the decomposing screen and some of the needle work. It was a fun project.

Twilight Trees I have really enjoyed doing these twisted tree forms. I am enjoying the movement using curves has added to my quilt work.

I liked the new skill I am building and feel now that I am ready to tackle the DMC Challenge that they were meant to be a prelude for. I sure hope that my vision can be full filled- but that remains to be seen. Tree Men I have been playing with the felt work tree too. This shot is a partial of two of the faces. Thus far I have done all the work by hand and so the green tool to the lift side is in the photo. I have rediscovered that the black wool felted skirt that is the dark background unit is difficult to felt to. I am glad that I need to soften the intensity of the dark so I am going to really build up the other grays and browns on top of it. That will help unify the work too I hope.

Pele I spent time this week getting this top to be flat. I cut and stitched away several wedges of fabric for this purpose. There is still a lot for me to learn about the curved cutting process like do not make the action too sharp. Anyway it is flat now. This shot shows the arms of the fire goddess drawn in thread on organza. I will trim away the the outside portion before I attach it to the top. I am still considering if I want to add some more color to the arms before I do that step too. I do want the arms to appear as a spirit like presence on the surface.

Play Day Printing I spent Friday last week printing with my Styrofoam stamps. The Styrofoam is the thick sponge like type that comes packed around big items like printers or computer screens. One draws into them with a welding iron in a well ventilated location. I cut mine last summer out doors The teacher who taught me how to do use this technique was teaching a second class on the same day and I was tempted to take it a second time, but decided instead to just play by my self with what I remembered. I think I got more accomplished too because I did not have to pack up my materials and spend travel time to get to the workshop. This top one shows two fabrics printed with fabric paint on commercial textured fabrics. This shot shows more turquoise fabric with a Styrofoam leaf stamp print and on the gray a stamp made from some plastic floor matting. The white is a mixture and I like this piece of fabric the most. This last piece is the white again with the last Styrofoam stamp of the figures dancing. I cut one set on one side of the foam an the other set on the back. I had a good time and although I have no plan for there use at the moment, I am confident they will all go into work in the future.

I hope winter is treating everyone well.

Keep Creating

Carol

Cre-8

Category Archives: Goddess Series

Happy Kwanzaa

Happy Halloween

March Begins

Final Day of February

Realisations

August 16, 2013 Nature is Lush

March 28, 2013 Daffodils

Feb 7, 2013 Winter Work

January 31,2013 Opening

January 24, 2013 The show- Goddesses:Text to Textiles

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer