Category Archives: Idaho

Creative Strength Training, Curvie Cuts, Deconstruction, Idaho, Koi Joy, Maneuver Series, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Home Again

Hello,

   I am back in Syracuse after my wonderful adventure with Marty from Sandpoint  Idaho  home.

 

 

I stayed in this wonderful tower room in her son’s house and enjoyed their company before our dive began.

 

 

 

 

We drove south along the Wind River range the first day.    I love how the trees are so distorted by the wind .

Then up into Tetons to look at the park.  Both Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake were as smooth as glass and reflected the Mountains beautifully.   I was a little distressed to see the low water level   marks as  global warming shows it impact on the planet.

We crossed the continental divide and stopped to enjoy the view east across the up coming great plains.

We drove across Montana and Nebraska and noted the changes in vegetation.  We did see a Bald  Eagle, Buffalo and lots of Prong Horn Antilope among the sage brush.  Crossing Indiana,  we stopped at Nappanee at a Dairy Queen for ice cream and enjoyed the sights .  Inside were a group of older Amish women all dressed in blacks and browns with little white hats.  The weather  was so beautiful we went out side to eat on the patio were we came across some teenagers, also Amish.  Three girls in pastel dresses were seated at one table and three boys in pastel shirts and brown pants at another.  The women left the Dairy Queen and got into a dark car and drove away.  A little later as  we ate our ice cream the teens also departed. One girl got on her bike and peddled west.   Then two boys got on their bikes and went east.  The third boy also on a bike crossed the high way and went north. Then the last two girls got into the buggy and went east.    Marty and I finished and we too got into the her car and went east.  We did not see the kids again.

We notice that as we went east it seemed like there were lots of beautiful trees with lots of color in Ohio and Pennsylvania.   New York also had color.  But what we noticed most in New York was the large number of gray and silver cars we saw.

Progress report: Koi in the Kelp    This work is 39″w X 35″ t.     I enjoyed adding all the button eyes and  sequins to the surface to embellish  this work.

 

 

 

 

Koi Joy   I started this work with a curvy cut system that I enjoy as a background.

 

 

 

 

Deconstruct ( Maneuver series)

This top is all assembled now and I am thinking about how I want to quilt it.

 

 

 

 

Maneuver Series-  New

 I now am deciding if I want to do blue and orange tints and shades next or  red and green.

 

 

I think now I will take both sets of colors with me on the Sisterhood Retreat next week and work on them.

 

 

 

 

 

Book  For Creative Strength Training the element is form.  So in the Slow Stitch group it was suggested that we might make a book as our 3-D example.    The inside pages are made with interfacing and   I have mounted some of my 6″ blocks on some of the pages.

I  have  also   started  several new 6 ” texture pages to add to this work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Susan’s Doll  I did hand work in a meeting this week and worked on Susan’s doll by adding legs.

 

 

 

 

 

Three Witches    I am to the point were I am adding in more shading into the work.

 

As I mentioned I will be off at a  retreat next week so it there will not be an entry  until  for a while.

Keep creating

Carol

 

 

 

 

 

Along the Shore, Ethel's Scarp Nine Patch, Idaho, Label Blocks

Travel With Marty- To Lincoln Nebraska

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IMG_6334Hello-

I am home from a wonderful and stimulating trip from Spokane Washington to Lincoln Nebraska.     We loaded a black rented jeep with 20 boxes of Marty’s books and our suit cases and we were off.  AspinFirst we went south along the   mountains  between Idaho and Montanta and enjoyed the landscape.  Our fist goal was to see a falt in southern Idaho

Shiftwhere the land shifted fifteen feet in the 70s.  The exposed slip is the white area in this photo.    The drive to this location resulted in a flat tire.   Thank goodness for  the help of a Fireman from Texas who helped us put on the spare.  But that meant taking the boxes of books out of the car so we could get to the spare and reloading them afterward.   We drove  to the next town and although it was Labor Day week end we found a tire dealership that was open.  They agreed to patch the tire.  So I unloaded the boxes again to get to the tire.  After he patched it the tire bulged so we did not put it on the car.  Loaded the books yet again and drove to IMG_6340.jpgIdaho Falls airport  where the car rental company traded our Jeep for a bigger car.  This picture is of Marty waiting outside the airport.       The new one was white and had so much fancy stuff on it that we never  figure them all out.IMG_6341  There was so much space in  this one that we did not even need to stack the boxes on top of one another.  We could have slept flat on top of them if we had to- but that did not happen.  Then on to Yellowstone.   Lots of stops there with  geysers and  hot springs,Hot springsmuseums and animals.   We checked put the petrified tree  and  enjoyed the day until  about two in the IMG_6372afternoon when it started to hail on us.  We pulled off and waited for it to stop as the hail balls were the size of marbles.  The storm lasted about half and hour and left the road covered with hail that made for slow slick driving.IMG_6374.jpg   This picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

is a  view out the windshield early on in the storm.     We left the park and were told that the road we needed to use to get to our lodging was closed due to snow.   So we stop and found another cabin to stay in.   It stormed during  the night IMG_6381but we got up to sunny skies and snow covered canyon walls on both sides of our resting place.IMG_6384 We altered our plans   again and opted to drive  south and cross the Continental   Divide at Dead Indian Pass  as it was lower and less likely to be closed.    It was  a beautiful drive and we made lots of stops for pictures.    We continued south in Wyoming .

IMG_6359.jpg       Ate lunch along the Wind River  and continued to enjoy  the landscapes.

IMG_6408  We went to Fossil Butte  National Monument and enjoyed the wonderful museum there.  Life sized  alligator and  turtles with the four foot shells were among the fossils as well as lots of leaves and ferns.    We  had crossed the Continental Divide seven times before we left the mountains. We drove across the southern portion of Wyoming  and  into  Scott’s Bluff  just at sun set.  It is a good thing we got to  see it that evening because when we got up in the morning there was so much  fog one could hardly see across the four lane highway.    It took the better part of two days to cross the Nebraska sand hills.  We saw lots of wind mills, cattle and train cars loaded with coal.

Ashfall Fossil bed We visited the Ashfall  Fossil Beds.  They were a wonder, with  the remains of over one  50 rhinos, turtles, tortoises ,and Sand Hill Cranes.  There were the skeletons of  three types of houses- three toed and single hoofed ones.   And  species of saber toothed rabbit- something I had never heard of before.    We left the fossils for Lincoln  where we meant Rosalie.IMG_6421Friday was the last unloading of the boxes at the International  Quilt  Study Museum.  A man came  with a cart and did the job that time.

chinese quilt  We enjoyed the museum. There was a great display of quilts from southern China.   The silk made them very beautiful when they were mixed with gold  couched embroidery thread.     We took the tour of the Mountain  Mist Collection too.  IMG_6434   We explored Lincoln on the week end and enjoyed the public art that is so much a part of the city.   There are lots of beautiful brick houses too.  We also went to the German Russian Immigrant museum on Sunday.   It was great too.

Marty and Rosalie  On Monday we had a meeting with the director were she took Marty’s QBL quilt and showed us the storage and preservation  parts of the museum.  She spent a couple of hours talking with us and it was g good visit.  We enjoyed out stay at the Rogers House Bed and Breakfast but we were all glad to be on our way home on Tues.  morning.IMG_6463

 

Nine patchProgress  Report:  Ethel’s Nine Patch   I did do a bit of work before I left on Tues for the start of this trip.  I had the strips put together from our weekend at Judy’s camp and I started cutting them into 5” squares and matching them with solids from my Ethel stash.    The blocks are a nine patch and I may add sashing.   That remains to be seen

Along the Shore IMG_6465 I am doing the machine quilting on this one now.

IMG_6464Machine Painting   I started working on the machine drawing on this butterfly yesterday.   The printed butterfly is fused to organza  with a paper backed fishable.  Then it is hooped before I began the machine work.   I would not trim the butterfly before I did the machine work next time.  Even though it is fussed it is still fraying.

Label Blocks # 76,#77, #78, #79, #80Label Blocks I took this project with me on the trip and found lots of little snippets of time to do hand work so I got five blocks done in two weeks.

Keep Creating

Carol

Diva Meetings, Idaho, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs)

June 21, 2013 Continuation

Sun-setHello again,

This extra post is a continuation my saga for the last two weeks.   This shot is of the sun set from Kay’s deck in Wenatchee Washington.  I love how the light truned the rock to red.

I left off last time with the Iron Quilter experience.  That was followed by the meeting of the QuEGs groop.  Because of the play day on the Friday before the meeting was a big show and tell of what we had done.Ruth's clam shells/American Beauty  I followed that with a drive to Ithaca to meet with the Diva group.    Ruth had been busy with her American Beauty/Clam shell quilt.  All the ” blocks” are different and full of her love of color.  She plans to keep the shape irregular and I think that is wonderful.   Sand'y hookingSandy wowed us with her newest hooked creation.  She used strips of wool and she  mixed yarn with them to create the colors she wanted for this landscape.   Great solution to a color problem. Liea's boats

Liese created this quilt for  the next show at Kendell.   The theme is “Ship Ahoy.”  She opted to commemorate her memory of being a Girl Scout leader.  One of her favorite memories was of  little wooden boats made by the girls with candles that they launched on the lake the final evening of their camping trip.  It made many of us envious and we want to try it too.   Annie'sAnnie created this spring growth piece.    I like the show drift in the back with the green shoots so full of life in front.   I hope it is completed for the fall show.

Susan's leeks Susan, now back from her home in Florida, is finding inspiration from her garden.    She is limiting her palet  and mixing the colors she needs for her images.  I think she is very successful with these leeks especially in this long format.

DischargingIdaho and Washington

I then flew out to visit with Marty.   She and I spent a sunny afternoon discharging with bleach.  It was specially exciting because we used hand dyed fabric so the colors from underneath were often a surprise.  We tried using the fabric in wadded piles on the ground and some on the line.  We felt we had more control of the results when we used the line method. tub of work Then the next day we dyed fabric.  Marty was trying for browns and this shot of the tub looks like she was successful- but the dye was a bit old and it did not take well. dye stuff  I am still delighted by the stuff I came home with and look forward using it.   This photo is of some of the new fabric pinned to the wall when I got home.

Rosalie Dace joined us on Saturday.   We celebrated Marty’s Birthday on Sunday with a picnic on the deck. Marty+ Marty made a great souffle that we all enjoyed.  Then she opened her gifts. Marty's-Socks  I love the socks sent to her by her daughter- so very operate for a quilter.  They will keep her toes worm this winter.

Marty and Rosalie out front
Marty and Rosalie out front

Marty’s home, thanks mostly to her brother, is also a Bear Museum.  This means there are bears everywhere a fact that is not without its hazards. Rosalie&Bob  Rosalie found that she had a bed mate when she went to her room.  Bob,the big bear, was very accommodating and allowed her to rest her head on his abundant stomach.

 

We drove to Wentchee see Kay Hall and go to a lecture on geogely.     Kay is a quilter with a love of texture like myself.  She uses a lot of beading in her work as this great little piece shows. Dawn'sangel  “The figure was in the dyed cloth,” she said.  “All I had to do was  embellish it.”

Dry-Falls   This shot is of Dry Falls National Monument.  It looks so much different from my last visit do to the fact that the day was sunny and there was lots of rain this spring so it was very green.

I had a wonderful time on this visit.  I have a whole new pack of pictures  and tons of new ideas as well as fabric for new works.

Keep Inspired and Creating

Carol

 

Idaho

Iron Quilter/Idaho

   Thursday Oct 27, 2011

Oct 1 was the day that I participated in Iron quilter.   This is a challenge were you work for six hours and go from nothing to a finished quilt with selected theme, a sleeve and binding the allotted time.

This is the set up before the six hours of work began.

My sewing table with fabric all over the place

This is how it looked after two hours when I came back from lunch.  I started to work assembling at a fever pace at this time.     I felt a little rude to the folks who came along and talked to me as I could/ did not look up and see their faces as I stitched along.   I had all the parts put together with an two hours to go.  Then I stared quilt drawing.  I heard the announcement that I was the first to start that step.  Keep your head ti the grind stone!

 

 

 

close up of machine drawn bare tree

I hurried to the end of the process and felt like the quilt really needed more quilting- but the time was up.   So I pinned it to the board and breathed.  I was impressed with the wide range of work that was created in such a short time by my fellow quilters.  Then as I tided up my space the judges made their decisions.

 

 

 

Much to my surprise I won the Viewer’s Choice Award!  What an honor! Close up of the finished quilt for the Iron Quilter competition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ideho

The major reason there has been no entries for the early part of this mouth is the fact that I have been traveling for the last  two weeks.  I had a wonderful trip to Idaho and enjoyed the time I spent with my friend Marty.   In two week a couple of gals like us can really get into trouble.       We visited the mountains and I took tons of photos.  Our visit to the big Cedar area was amazing.  I get so inspired by the textures and colors of it all.   The size and age of the trees made me stop and think about time in a long slow flow process as opposed to the frantic rush our time seems to demand.

Close up of textured limbI loved all the textures!

 

 

 

 

It was so peaceful an enjoyable.Moss and leaf on the forest floor

Photo of painted shoes toes upThen we painted tennis shoe. .  It took two days to create all the texture that finally

 

 

 

 

 

painted shoes- toes left

 

When I wear these I really feel lighter in my step.  So joyful!

 

We went to visit one on Marty’s friends and had a great time.  Getting three creative minds like ours together and we created a bit of a challenge for our each other.  There are only five “rules”.

  1. Three colors- crimson, dark turquoise  and blue green
  2. You cannot change the geography of the color( we will each arrange the colors as we see fit and pin them down before shipping- Nov 6)
  3. One side needs to be irregular
  4. The final size of the three quilts will be 18”X24”
  5.  If you want to  try something -“Do It”

 

The process now has a title- DMC project.    So now I need to get my fabrics.   They are Crimson, Dark Turquoise and Blue Green.     We all selected one.  I have done a bit of shopping – but I am not happy with the color choices yet.   It is exciting to be on this new path for me.

Then getting home after being away always means lots of catch up to do.

Class this week with Leslie was on Creative Block.  The creation of work has never been a problem for me.  I love the process and look for every opportunity to keep at the creating process.  It is the “Championing of the work” has been and continues to be the challenge.   So I will work away on that part of the equation.

Progress Report:  Curling Coils is done now.   I like the flow of the work.

 

full shot of the finished quiltX’s and O’s will be the first thing that I work on when I get the Blog done this morning.

I did put pin backs on five of the Spirit Dolls this week.

They are so much fun to make even though they do take a long time.

Blue and green tyvek beads with glossThe Tyveck beads got hit with the heat gun. I have mixed feeling about them.  I tried heating the felt too- but that really did not do much at all.  So I sprinkled the 1inch felt squares with sequins and Angelina.  I love the glitz but I do not see where I will use them.

 

Talking Totems


I finished the quilting on this work this week and I got the facing done as well.  It is all ready for the world.  I enjoyed using the rubbing plate that I had created two summers ago.  Susan’s encouragement really helped me with that project.   The machine drawing of similar heads was also a fun thing for me.   I like to make the lines come to life!

I worked on one more piece this week- Wampum. 

white quilt with bead work on topIt has lots of hand quilting and I have been slowly doing that part of it over several mouths.   It is good to have it completed.  I do happily have a home for that work.  I will give the finished quilt back to the gal who gave me the beaded sections.  They mean so much more to her than me.  I see them only as texture and she has memories of wearing them.  It will be a good match.

The Egyptians is now finished.   I like how it came out and feel that it needs a second unit to complete the idea.   I will have to work on that idea…

Keep Creating

Hugs

Carol