Category Archives: Landscapes

Daily's, Diva Meetings, Flight, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Swallows, Transversing - Foundations #4

Dec 6, Holiday Happenings

December 5, 2013 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

Thanksgiving is really the beginning of holiday season for me. The QuEG’s group started the week off with a Holiday Potluck as a part of our meeting. We also added to the craziness by having a cookie exchange too. This first shot is of Liz and our hostess Linda with the gift that Liz brought her. We all were in top sprits and the food was great as were the cookies.

Friends always make my life full and this day was no exception. We did the ususal show and tell and there was lots of both. Linda started us off with her beautiful Baltimore album squares that she had unearthed when she moved. They show excellently exicuted hand applique’ work on this old project that she now feels she is ready to complete. She suggests that doing a UFO is a good way to get back into the creative process in her new space.

Angela was the next power house to show her work. She is framing her felted works now and they look wonderful. Her Hawaiian dased petrogliphits are wonderful. She is also experimenting with felting, hand stitching and dyeing. Sometimes in that orderis her order. She then goes back in and stitches even more .

I really like the color combinations she is using too. This work is also based on her petrogliphic series.

Sally continues to blow me away with her thread drawn Computer / Quilt work. She mixed and manipulated five different programs to create this holiday quilt. She also had some stunning little works that she had made into cards- her other specialty. What a gal!

I then went off to the Quilt Diva meeting the same evening. Alice was a busy this last mouth and she shared four finished and one work in progress. The work in this photo is called Guardians.

Ruth is continuing her work with on blocks that are based on Guyana symbols. This symbol is used to purmote Versatility, Intensity and Dynamism. She asked for ideas about how to quilt this work. What a strong graphic! I am impressed with her work.

Donna’s busy getting ready for her solo show. She is using found wood pieces and found objects as starting points for her new spirited figures series. She says she needs to make 27 by February. So she will be one busy gal to meet that self created challenge.

Elsie had been busy creating new bird blocks for Christmas. I enjoy her cardinals. They are so chipper and bright. They really make me smile.

After spending a day with all these intense creative folks all working in their own directions, I always go home with a mind full of new ideas and images from these two wonderful groups of gals.

Progress Report: Transversing Foundations #4 Because I am not a real fan of numbering art works I now have added to the title of this quilt. I added lots of machine drawing on this quilt this week and now feel it is complete. This morning I painted the back and so that is the image presented here. I will add the sleeve this week and the piece will be done. Using the bobbin thread colors as my guide I tried to paint in similare color and patters as the front. I know this is a lot difference, but it still works for me.

Foundations #5 I continue to work away on this piece. Everything here is quite fluid because so much work needs to be done on this piece before it is were I want it to be. I did try adding paper to the surface of this piece to get the color and effect I wanted. I will do almost anything for the sake of texture.

Flight: This quilt was called Swallows last week. I do not think that is accurate any more so I changed it. I am going to use that title on another piece where I used the swallow stencil on a more traditional piece. I worked on the quilting portion of this work this week. I am going to try to add some shadow(only machine drawn) swallows into the flight pattern to add interest and more texture. There is one small one drawn in the lower center of the flock at the moment. Can you find it?

New Swallows: Here is the new work that will carry the Swallows title from now on. I am still in the construction stage, but that is almost done. I find that I really like this stencil and may even do some more work with it.

Daily’s – This project continues. I have two more weeks of squares with red circles and black triangles to work with before I change the beginning lay out units.

The season is full of visual images and lots of action. Keep Creating.

Hugs

Carol

Daily's, Oak Leaves, On the Raod to Dry Falls, Truquoise Street Studio

Open Studio November 21 , 2013

November 21, 2013 admin

Hi ,

Welcome to all the new followers that have signed up this week. 32 new folks were added to the subscription list and I am quite flattered.

This is a shot of the Turquoise Street Studio wall with work by Beth Houston Barholdt and Barbara Vural. They are having an open studio this eve as a part of Third Thursday. I was asked to join them and I have work for sale as well. I know I should have posted this bit of news last week- but I did not think of it. I will try to keep my eye on that ball in the furture. So as that bit of news suggests I have been busy getting ready for that event. Tagging, matting and framing of little works really take a lot longer than their size suggests.

On Tuesday, I went along with the other gals who are part of FAB- our mini group, to see the Quilts= Art= Quits at the Schweinfurth Art Center. We spent two hours looking and talking about the work shown there. It is always so inspiring. Then on the way home we stopped at Patchwork Plus and did a little shopping. Nancy and Victoria both purchased material, while Patti and I purchased other things. We had a good full day and I went home with my mind spinning in many directions.

I started working on Christmas Cards this week too. I stitched down green silk scraps from the Oak Leaves project on top of green triangles. Then I added a star and squeezie paint balls to the trees. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

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

Progress Report: Oak Leaves This quilt is complete now. I had shown it to the gals in FAB at the last meeting and they suggested that I add something to the bottom left hand side. This work hung on the design wall all week and finally yesterday morning it hit me that what it needed was a little bit of suggested green leaf fromation from another branch. So I added it. I really like how the silk leaves are fraying with time on this piece. That added texture plus the wonderful shadows created by the overlapping leaves, especially were they cross the frapped branches, are enjoyable to me. I have never used silk in this fashion before and think there is more exploration for me in that direction. I do not have any more silk at the moment so it will have to stay at the dream/ imagination stage for now.

On the Raod To Dry Falls 29" X 39.5" $290.00 — On the Raod To Dry Falls
29″ X 39.5″
$290.00

On The Road to Dry Falls This is the lost top that I mentioned last week. I had started it at QBL. I used some very old material here- the yellow, orange and white in the center and left sections- and some more recently altered stuff. The cream and green at the top on the right and lower left is from the discharged play day I did with Marty last spring. I also used some of the silk paper on this work. I am enjoying the process of free motion attachment of yarn( the white lines) as well as the sewing/quilting lines for texture. I am getting better at stretching the silk out to create more of a web like effect too.

This quilt also has some hand painted fabric in it. Well that many not exactly be hand painted as this light sections is really a wipe up cloth- but I do not know how else to describe it. Nothing is trash to me I guess.

Daily’s The Daily’s continue to be joy for me. This week’s collection seems to be a mixture of crazy and control…. I am not even going to guess what that says about my mind. There are only a few more prepared blocks using the black circles and red squares….. So there will be a change in something by next week.

Keep Creating

Carol

Curvie Cuts, Diva Meetings, Pumpkin Lichens, Rock Series East Wall

Sept 6 , 2013 Back to School

September 6, 2013 admin

Hello,

It was the first day of school for students here in central New York. When I went out for my walk this morning there were two boys waiting for the bus on the corner. The same place that my daughter waited for the bus many years ago. I passed others on my trek and thought that this is a sure sign that fall has begun.
This week was the first Tuesday of the mouth and so I went off to my DIVA group meeting on Tuesday. I had missed the mouth before so I was very excited about seeing what others were doing and I was not disappointed! Liese had been doing a lot of marbling on paper . She created two books. I really like the one with the quotes and her second one was an accordion book with wonderful creatures that she saw in the marbling.

She said that she learned that the newsprint paper worked the best for this job.

Susan is doing some great exploration based on sleep. She is printing on fabric with old stencils and writing her quotes in water soluble graphic pencils.

She has a wild collection of stencils and is trying not to cut any new ones for this project. I really like the long line of people she repeated in this second print.

She is also dealing with the inside of things- including people. The rib cage is made with painted canvas suspended in the opening. I can hardly wait to see how this develops.

She always looks at things with such a unique eye.

Sally brought a problem to the group for suggestions. She is getting ready for the Art Trail in the Ithaca area and one of her practices is to have each of her visitors add a piece of fabric to a background that she has selected. Then the sews them down were they are placed. Every five years she take the panels and puts them together in some fashion. She was after suggestions. We brainstormed and gave her several ideas- I can hardly wait to see what she finally does. I really get a lot out of this group for the support as well as the many skills and ideas that each person brings to the setting.

Occasions 35.5" X 49.5" $ 440.00 — Occasions
35.5″ X 49.5″
$ 440.00

Progress Report: Occasions This quilt is one more of the ones that I started at Quilting by the Lake, the second week. I had purchased some deconstructed fabric( the light blue) from her the first week of the conference and used it as my starting place for this piece. This fist close up show the wonderful texture she had created with lines that attracted me to it. I pulled the rest of the materials from my stash and supplemented with a few new pieces that I purchased from the venders there. I enjoyed doing the circular quilting on this piece and feel it is just what the quilt needed to pull all the sections together. The gals at the Diva meeting really liked this work too and had lots of kind word about this work.

I enjoyed working on this one.

…………… ……………………… …………………….. ……………………….. ……………………… ……………………

East Wall – Rock Series
This work got lots of additional machine drawing added this last week. There is so much texture now that I feel it is pulling together a bit better.

I used some of my painted wonder under on the surface to add more color and pattern. There is also a bit of intense quilted pink velvet on the right side of this shot for more texture.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Pumpkin Lichens : I am to the quilting stage on this quilt. It too has some of Randy’s wonderful decomposing screen fabric as it start- The orange with the the dark circles on it. The colors of the trip to southwest really have had a long time effect on me if the work shown here is any indication.

……………………………………………………..

New Work Here is some more of the curved piecing work I am trying to conquer. I am ready to start the placement of the fused silk paper on this top to add texture and unity to it. There are two pieces sort of pinned in place. I think more will help as well as some of the painted wonder under.

Then the quilting will really pull it all together .

Keep Creating

Carol

Canyon's Create Towers, Diamnond Peak, Landscapes, Slot Canyon, Sunny Canyon

Aug 29, 2013 Walk in the woods

August 29, 2013 admin

Hello ,

As this shot shows I have been out of doors. I spend a day with my daughter and grandson at a local park called Beaver Lake. We spend a few hours walking in the deep woods as well as along the lake. We not only spotted this leopard frog along the shore, but we saw a heron as well. The woods was full of many types of fungus in color from whites, oranges , browns and even a dark blue colored one. There was a wide range of shapes too- from the flat shelf fungus, branching coral like shapes, to the umbrella mushrooms. It was fun to see who would spot the next one along the trail as we walked. Nature always provides lots of variety.

The big excursion for me this week was a drive to Athens Ohio to go to Quilt National. I was on the road with Ethel last Thursday and because we started early( 6:00 am) and drove for 11 hours- we got to the show that evening. It was wonderful to get a chance to see the work that eve. And it was even better that we also got to have a second day to study the quilts on Friday. The other big even for this last two weeks was the hanging of the ” Sticks and Stones” show at the Americana winery in Interlocken NY. That job took Anne and myself two and a half hours. I have eight works in that show including Wind Fall, Sunny Crannies under the rim and Mummy Cave Ruins from several weeks ago. The canyon and stone works I have been working on really look strong on the barn board walls of the winery.

Dimaond Peak 43" X 41" $ 440.00 — Diamond Peak
43″ X 41″
$ 440.00

Progress Report: Diamond Peak This quilt was created after my float trip down the Grand Canyon with my Dad eight years ago. I did ten quilts about that trip when I got home. The experience was magical and I would do it again in a second. For this show I pulled out the seven quilts that remain from that series and reworked some of them. I added about five or six hours of additional machine quilting to the surface of the rocky areas of all of these quilts. I think that extra machine work helped. When I first made them I was so excited about capturing the images that I could not see that they needed more needle work.

Canyon's Create Towers 41" X 45.5" $475.00 — Canyon’s Create Towers
41″ X 45.5″
$475.00

Canyons Create Towers This is a second one from the Grand Canyon Series. It is based on a photo that I took further up stream then Diamond Peak. Part of the thrill of the trip was how fast the river ran down some of the narrow cliff openings creating great water patters and falls . I was also fascinated by how you could see the different layers of stone in the rock formations father down the river. Here too I reworked the surface with lots of quilting. I folded over the organza and stitched in lots of quilt lines to lead the eye back into the quilt surface on this work. At the bottom of this shot you can see the florist plastic that I captured under the organza too. It added a bit of sparkle that was always present on the water.

Sunny Canyon 37" X 31" $295.00 — Sunny Canyon
37″ X 31″
$295.00

Sunny Canyon I remember how beautifully the sun filled that canyon the day I took the photo that was the inspiration for this quilt. Every thing sort of glowed. This quilt not only got a lot of additional quilting it also go a major resizing. I removed a hole row of trees that were on an island that was in the for ground and about six inches off both sides before I was happy with this quilt. I also remember how surprised I was when I started these quilts that I did not need to purchase much fabric to complete them. I had been on the look out for “rock” materials for a long time it seemed.

Slot Canyon 19.5" X 26.6" $ 135.00 — Slot Canyon
19.5″ X 26.6″
$ 135.00

Slot Canyon One day on the Canyon trip we walked up a slot canyon. The narrow walls were wonderfully textured by rushing waters. I found all the line marks so fascinating that I had to make a quilt about that. This quilt is a whole cloth piece with color added in pastel and pressed into the surface. Then I did the machine work on top.

I hope summer is still bringing joy to your lives as it is to mine.

Keep Creating

Carol

Anastasie Ruin, Bacterial Bloom, Blooming Bacteria, Curvie Cuts, Egyptian Quilts, Eric's Thoth, Felt Work, Green Nebula, Landscapes, Sunny Crannies

July 11, 2013 Summer Days

July 11, 2013 admin

Hello,

I feel we have reached the slow days of summer when Mother Nature really does her magic. I have noticed on my walks changes especially in the trees. Hickories, pines and oaks all have immature versions of the seeds to come in fall. Because of all of the rain we have experienced here, I think the apples will be really big this year because the green ones on the trees now are already bigger then gulf balls. Nature provides me with a visual feast each day.

I am getting ready to attend the Quilting By the Lake conference. I so look forward to seeing my friends and to getting stimulated by lots of new ideas and thoughts about the art of quilting. In preparation for that work I had to do a bit of sorting. One thing lead to another and I ended up pulling all the fabric out of the closet and refolding and stacking it. This shot shows the job as it neared completion. As you can see I have lots of fabric. This activity not only cleaned up the shelves, and sorted out the material that I need for my projects, but it also made me realize I do not need to purchase anything new. I hope I can stay to that resolution over the next two weeks while I am there and tempted by the fabrics of the venders. I am doing two weeks of Independent study this year and I plan to keep working on the Rocks and Canyon series. I will allow my self to find other ideas as well. Please be aware that there will not be any posts for the two weeks of QBL. Then we plan on a little vacation so this will be the last post until Aug 8.

Anastasi Ruins 18" X 24" $ 110.00 — Anastazi Ruins
18″ X 24″
$ 110.00

Progress Report: Anastazi Ruins
This work is complete now. I have really enjoyed putting the silk paper into this work. It makes the feel of the flow of the rocks really work for me. I liked doing the free motion work to add texture to the surface too. The other thing I tried here and on the Sunny Crannies quilt was adding torn strips of satin to the surface. The strips were slender so they folded in on them selves and they flipped over that also added to the textural changes that were created.

I ended up not using the painted unit I posted last week on the ruins. It was just too much. But I did add nylon net to the top of the cave area to help with the darkness.

Sunny Crannies

This quilt is a part of the Rock Face series. I really seem to be fascinated by the surfaces of road cuts and cliffs. This one came from on of the photos that I took in Idaho a few weeks ago. Here I went back to the free cut method to put the work together. Rocks do not break in continual strait lines most of the time so the free cut is the only way to get the correct feel.

This shot shows that I also turned the brown commercial fabric over and use the “back” side to get another tone to the surface.

I used some of the fabric that Marty and I discharged in this quilt along with some slender torn gray jean fabric as well. I really like this plus the satin surfaces on the work. Finally I used more of the silk paper here too. This piece of silk paper has some glitter and gold added to the silk as well as the color. I look forward to teaching this technique with the Quilt Exploration Group in September.

Rounds

This project is moving along nicely for me. It is changing under my finger tips however, but one needs to be open to that as it happens. All the circles are stitch down now and it has been washed so there is fraying of the shapes. I plan to slice the top and invert one or more to the slices before I reassemble it. I also want to add so yarn appliqued to the surface to add more texture. I will then have to see what the quilt tells me to do.

Eric’s Thoth

Thoth is the Egyption god of writing. I intended to complete this quilt for my husbands birthday. That happens to be today so I will not make it. But I am sure he will accept it later. He is an English teacher and worked on his collage publication called ” Thoth” so this seems like a good idea to me. I made the stencils- Thoth, the Eye or Horis and the Eagle mouths ago, but never put them together until now.

The scarab stencil is even older. I added the scarab after the whole top was assembled as I discovered that the area needed an addition.

I enjoyed adding the Hiroglyphs to this project too although I did them before I assembled the top. I have had this set of stamps sense I taught school and I used them with the kids. Here I spelled out ” Eric the Teacher” using the Heiroglyph guild book.

Green Nebula

I keep working on the beading work on this quilt. I am just about ready to do the quilting now. About three more evening of watching TV should to the trick to finish the beading step. Then I will begin the hand quilting.

Blooming Bacteria

Here again I made my background using the free hand cut method. I did the cut and flip thing on this background too. The red circles are just pinned to the surface now . When I get the placement exactly were I want it I will satin stitch them down and begin hand work. I imagine it will be a while before this work reappears again, as the work I do at QBL will probably capture my attention for a while. I wanted to have this work started because I have made all the “add ons” and I do not want to forget the direction while I am away.

I will look forward to posting again Aug 8.

Keep Creating

Carol

Anastasie Ruin, Landscapes, Rock Face, Uncategorized

July 4 2013 Happy Birthday United States

July 4, 2013 admin

Hello,

I hope this day is full of delight for everyone. We will have family over for a cook out this eve and later enjoy our local fire works. This week was a full as they all seem to be at this time of year. Starting a new mouth always means meetings for me. The Quilt Exploration Group meant and was lively as ever. Angela continues to work on her Ta-pa Cloths series. She prints the fabric in neutral colors and then embroiders another ta-pa pattern on top. The dark brown image is done in French Knots. Sally really has gotten to know her new embroidery machine this year. She has been creating feathered star patterns in fabric and thread all winter. The fabric is yellow and the dark blue in this star- the rest is all created with thread! Even those many points. There are 36 stars on this quilt and I just kept looking and looking. It is so awesome. Not only were the stars powerful so too was the quilting in the white area. Sally did an excellent job putting it together too.

I am regretful that this shot is so poor- but the colors in Noel’s silk circles are so powerful that I had to present it non the less. Hopefully I will learn to check the image after the shot instead of assuming it is OK.

The Diva meeting was full of new ideas too. Susan is collaging/painting pictures of some of her puppets. She wants to create depth with organza as well as paint. I am sorry that the photo does not show the fact that the arm of the puppet on the right is made of tin and sticks out from the surface. And All the suttelness of the organza is lost in the photo.

Alice is working on a paper construction for a recycle show that she wants to be part of. She has created this ” water unit” all out of privacy envelopes. The paper is surprisingly strong when it is stitched together even though she still has only one layer. She held up envelopes with green and some with black images on them for use as trees and rocks. I hope we get to see the finished work.

Sharon grabbed my camera and took this shot of me holding up my Fossil Bed quilt.

One of my followers asked if I was worried about copy wright of my images. That topic also came up in the June/July issue of Quilting Arts and Jane Da’vila provided a little section about water marks on page 72. ( There is a survive at Digimarc.com if you are interested) Taking that action would protect one’s work. I am always very careful to ask permission about shooting the work of my fellow artists and there are times when they do say “No”, witch is there right. But my feeling about my images is a little more open. I do not feel anyone can really copy my work and if they are so in need of my material, that they steal it – I hope it serves them well. That is not to say that I do not value my work- I do. But I just do not choose to spend my energy in that fashion. I prefer to keep creating new things and for the most part I have enough. For that I am truly Thankful! I hope this source helps anyone who needs it.

Progress Report: Rock Face This first shot is a close up of the quilt work. I am using the silk paper I created with Ethel to add texture and color to the surface. This image also shows the rust dyed fabric in the background and the torn silk I stitched on top for additional texture. I used some of the fabric from our discharged day with Marty in this work too. It took me a long time to decide how to go about quilting this work. But I am quite excited about working on it now.

Anastasie Ruin This work got attention this week too. I tried painting the actual ruin on organza- and I am not sure it works. The scale is off some how. I plan to make a second organza unit and add it on top of the work. I am going to embellish with the silk paper an strips of fabric here too. Again I am filled with doubt about where to go with the quilt step of the work. But I think that if I get the dwellings defined then the rest will take care of its’ self.

Untitled
Noel’s quilt from the QEG’s meeting just would not leave me mind so I decided that I needed to play with circles too. I though I might mix them with the raw edgue idea I was playing with a few weeks ago. ( that work , although not tossed yet – is still in a questionable state) I also played with several different textures here- silk , velvet and cotton. I hope I am not falling into one of my typical patterns of trying to do too much in one work….. but I guess only time will answer that. I though I was making a back ground for all the black and red fiber rings I have been creating- but this is not the home for those creations.

Star Wars Quilt I did finish a little practical work this week as well. The Star Wars quilt is twin size and for my grandson. He picked out all the fabrics and although I think it is busier than I would have selected, he is delighted.

I hope the holiday creats delightful memories for all.

Keep Creating

Carol

Before the Bud, Canyon De Chelly- Mummy Cave ruin, From the Pavement, Greek Butterflies, Landscapes, Machine Drawing, Mapping the Ruins, Natural Elements, Urbam Beauty

May 23 2013, Spring Walks

May 23, 2013 admin

Hello Friends,

I have been out doing my walking in the early morning to make sure I really follow through. It seems so easy to put it off and then get

involved in other things. So I was not walking in the afternoon at all. Much better to start the day with the walk and it will soon be hot in the afternoons as well. Anyway it has been a glorious feast for the nose of late. What with blooming Honeysuckle, Lilac and a beautiful Dog Wood to mention a few I have really enjoyed starting my days with a walk. I seem to be more aware of the world in the morning as well so I am very glad that I have made this switch.

Friday last week I went to the Turquoise Street Studio and meant with some of the gals from the painting class from the weekend before. Deb had gone back in and did additional work on this painting of limes. I really think it works. This picture is of a new painting Deb did based on the class work too. The class effected all of us. This next images is of Beth doing a value sketch in preparation for a new pastel. The teacher had suggested using a gray paper sketch book so one only needed to do the tonal work by drawing in black and white. Beth is doing just that. I did hand work as I seem to take longer to digest the Value idea into my work. Yesterday I went to Ethel’s house to spend a day playing with silk paper. This photo is of Ethel mixing dye in preparation to the silk. Pam was also there and she did some fine silk paper too It was great fun and I created four different new sheets to use. I went with an eye to make the paper for a specific task and the results were great.

The gold sheet and perhaps the cream one as well are destine for one of the canyon painted surfaces I painted last week. The blue and purple paper I created because I wanted to see if one could add bits of yarn to the surface too. I think it will work well in a meadow idea I have in my head. It is always so much fun to work with others I always feel like I get so much more from these events then I contribute to them.

Before the Bud 17" X 26" $110.00 — Before the Bud
17″ X 26″
$110.00

Progress Report: Before The Bud

This quilt is completed now. I really enjoyed doing all the free motion work here. The colors really work for me as well. With this quilt I am changing my policy a bit. I am adding the price of the work to the image. After reading a third article were a buyer stated that she did not like having to contact the artist to find out about the price of work I decided to include that info in the image. Selling my work in not my goal, but I need the space so I will gladly do so. Besides for me, the act of creating is the most important part of the process. The Problem solving if you will.

Excavating the Ruins 21.5" X 31" $168.00 — Excavating the Ruins
21.5″ X 31″
$168.00

Excavating the Ruins
I have enjoyed working on this project due to all the great textures. I really like all the wholes here and that contrast adds a lot of interest to my eye. The map in white organza is of one of the cliff dwellings in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. In looking over it I though it needed a little more punch so I added a little petroglyph form the canyon for further interest. I found this little figure very fascinating.

Greek Butterflies 17.5 " X 25" $ 105.00 — Greek Butterflies
17.5 ” X 25″
$ 105.00

Greek Butterflies
I am very happy with how this quilt finally resolved its self. The lesson on Value came to play here when I took a second look at the distribution of darks on the week end. I had to take out some of the piecing and insert some more dark near the bottom before I was happy with it. I also realized I need to add something to the light block in the center of the quilt. So I drew in a butterfly of my own using the photos as direction. I added color after I had out lined the image. I was concerned with how to quilt this work. I knew I wanted to out line the butterflies but had no idea beyond that. I toyed with the idea of making the rest of the quilting a reflective of that outline pattern, but was not sure. So I then it hung on the wall for several days before I saw a photo of moth trails in Pinterest. Then I knew that was what the quilting patterns should be. I find this quilt to be very up lifting and the quilting pattern adds to that idea in my mind.

Mummy Cave Ruins
This shot shows a possible layout for the additions that I am planning on adding to this painted top that I started last week. On the far left is some of the wonderful silk paper that I created yesterday. In my origional photo there is a wall of stone that is in the foreground and I wanted to capture that feeling to some what frame the ruins. Hanging on the right is some painted inner facing that I may add to make the rocks a bit more colorful. Again I have added the oil stick stencil drawings to this work surface. I need to do some free motion work on the parts I am sure of before I know what will go where and if the places where they are pinned at the moment is the final location for them. Make visual decisions – Visually.

Urban Beauty – From the Pavement I was doing hand work on this at the Turquoise Street Studio last week. I am enjoying building up textures on this surface. The base units are lutador that has been painted with Lumiar paints and the white is gesso. ( lutador is a type of spun ground cloth that can be found at some hardware stores this time of year) I then melted it a bit with the heat gun to melt and distort the surface. I have done free motion drawing and the hand stitching to add to the complexity of the surface. I am not sure of were the work is leading me so I hang it often an look at the progress to know what I want to do next. This makes the process very slow, but worth it I think.

New Work
This is an attempt at a new direction. Sense I seem to keep getting hit over the head with this Values idea( even read about it in a book this week) – I thought I better pay attention. So I designed a block ( Check the light blue section in the lower right) . I tried to keep light med and dark in the same area- and did three different size variations on the block – small ( lower write) a little bigger ( lower left- this one is also turned 45 degrees) and large( look at the turquoise section) This is all new territory for me when it comes to designing and I am not sure it will or does work at all. But I want to stay sharp and open to new “roads” so I will keep playing- the challenge is the thing.

Enjoy the wonders of the season.

Hugs

Carol

Canyon De Chelly- Mummy Cave ruin, Chanyon De Chelly- Desert Vanish, Landscapes, Mapping the Ruins

May 16, 2013 Painting

May 16, 2013 admin

Dear Friends,

I feel very light hearted today because I spent most of my morning out doors. I took a painting workshop this weekend along with all my pastel pals. We were all looking to stretch a bit. The workshop was taught by Patti Mollica and was called ” Painting- Fast and Loose.” This fist shot is over Barbara’ shoulder of the first assignment. We were working on showing lights, mediums, and darks, in our work. The teacher gave us all a few photos to work from.This second shot is of my pears. The second painting we tried. I am not real happy with it, but I think I got the concept. Then on the second day we did more painting and she was pushing the fast and loose working part. We did five paintings that day. The first in the morning to worm up and then one forty five minute one. Followed by a half hour one and last we did two fifteen min works. That sure put us into the fast and loose part. The pomegranate is my favorite. The whole thing was fun and got me going with the painting again. Hence my happy feeling as I painted out doors this morning. I raised the level of my plastic table by setting the legs on four up turned flower pots so I could stand up and work. I painted fabric as starts for two more works based on the trip last June to Canyon De Chelly Nation Monument. This first shot is of the White House Ruin. I have rough out the color bases and will add layers on top with pastels, crayons and fabric pieces. I want to show the Desert Varnish on the walls of the canyon in this one. The second one is also from a picture I took on that trip. It is of the Mummy Cave Ruin. This time I want to work on showing the depth of the rock pocket of the canyon wall and how much color there was in the stone. There is lots of work to do here, but I am excited about it.

Progress Report: Mapping the Ruins

The Canyon trip really was on my mind this week and this work also has the influence of that trip in it. This piece has a traditional pieced fabric base in pinks and white. I am sorry I did not take a photo of this step before I went forward. Then I pinned tyvek that had been painted on both side with acrylic paint to the surface. I quilted through all the layers in a pattern that I had made. The pattern for the quilting was based on a map of the ruins of one to the pueblos in the cliff face of Canyon De Chelly. I had drawn that map last year in July for the class I took with Valerie Goodwin at Quilting By the Lake. I did not use the map in the work because it made the work too busy for my final piece. ( Check last week for the shot of White Tower in the Kendall Show- it’s intended home) This morning I took the heat gun to the tyvek and melted away some of the surface. I love the wholes in the surface that add to the idea of decay and deterioration. My next step will be to add the map that I have created on two layers of organza on top of the quilt. I will be trimming it down and stitching this map on top of the fabric and the tyvek to add yet another layer of depth to the work. That is the plan at this time any way.

Greek Butterflies This is a new top that grew our of some very old material. I took a class six years ago were we learned how to transfer photographic images to fabric. I fist mixed the side of a shingled building ( the gray)with a wonderful butterfly image that I had taken when I went to Greece. I printed the image on fabric in class. Then the fabric just kept shuffling around from one pile to another. Thinking on the painting class were our teacher Patti Mollica, spent a whole day on Light-Medium-Dark, I though I would try to use that idea. I had a good time and found out what many quilters know about there stashes – we have lots of mediums and not many lights or darks. Now I need to move forward on this piece- like how to quilt it…..

I hope spring and all it’s joys are filling you with creative juices and thoughts.

Hugs

Carol

Baby Quilts, Far Horizons, Landscapes

March 21, 2013 Shaving Cream Printing

March 21, 2013 admin

Dear Readers,

We may have passes the Vernal Equinox yesterday and the days may include more sunlight , but here in up state New York it is still very cold. I will really bundle up when I go for my walk today as it is still only 20 degrees in the sun shine. I have been staying indoors a lot and working in the studio although I do not have a lot of completed work to show. I have been playing with my thermofax screens. Again my connections with other quilts- specially members of QuEG’s has born fruit. At the March meeting Angela talked about using shaving cream as a carrier for ink with her screens. I have been playing with that too. What fun! I spent two days this week playing with this idea. One day was with my friend Ethel.

Pictured here are the tools, a plastic containor, spoons, the screen and fabric.The second shot shows the shaving cream( I got it at the dollar store) mixed up in smaller containers. The mixture is them spread on the top of the screen and using the edge of credit card one draws ink mixed in the shaving cream across the screen forcing the ink and shaving cream through the screen.

This shot shows the images printed on the fabric. It drys so fast that one can print a second color on top with out much time passing. Ethel and I tried also mixing dye with shaving cream and printing it too. It seemed to work as well, but the dye caused the shaving cream to break down quickly and them it runs and bleeds. That fabric is still batching so I do not have a shot of it yet as I have not washed it out.

Progress Report: Speculations on Value I have now finished this quilt. I really did enjoy the Mac Tavishim quilting patterns and went back and fixed the messy ones from last week. I am sure I will use this style again on a future work.

This close up also shows some old silk screen work on the white area pictured here.

Window Work I also put together this simple quilt to serve as a window cover in the west window of our bed room. It is made from navy blue fabric and leftovers from a “Scrap Happy” project from the fall. This is ready for quilting now and I will add those things plus a sleeve. Then it will go up in the bed room. I need to replace the cover on the east window too so that will be a second piece using even more of the leftovers.

Baby Quilt I am making this quit for the first grandchild of one of my good friends, Beth. The nursery theme is the jungle so that is how I got started. I have cut and pinned the giraffe, elephant,zebra and lion. The Kola, gazelle ,monkey and at the bottom, lizard remain in the paper pattern stage. I am a bit frustrated as the big sewing machine is not working correctly, but I will pull out the trusted Bernina 1008 and do the zig -zag applique when all the parts are cut.

Far Horizons This work is coming along. I am only showing a close up this week as it does not look much different than last. I have been doing all the quilting from the back side because I am using very heavy silk thread and do not have any needles for the machine with big enough eyes to do the job any other way. The thread was a gift from my friend Judy. Her grandfather was a tailor in NYC years ago and it was left over from his shop. I have had it for several years and I am delighted to finally be using this wonderful thread.

I am hoping for some warmer weather by next week.

Keep Creating

Carol

Adventure Challenge 2013, Far Horizons, Felt Work, Landscapes, Purple Trees, Stump Men

March 14, 2013 Day Light Savings Time

March 14, 2013 admin 5 Comments

Hello,

As I set here at the computer I feel like I am running behind. The clock has been set forward for Day Light Savings Time, but my body is not making the adjustment. I wake up, and can not believe that it is so late. And that in turn makes me feel like I am behind all day long. I am sure that the fact that my husband is on spring break and we are not setting the alarm also adds to my slow adjustment. Mother Nature is not helping either. I am rearing to go when it is sunny and nice- It got up to60 degrees one day, but days like today when the snow is flying again make me want to stay in the winter cocoon -I call bed. I the fact that I forgot my camera, and left projects behind twice this week also add to my feeling of out of balance. Hopefully I will adjust soon and get into “normal” rhythm with the universe and myself.

Progress Report: Speculations on Value I have spent most of my efforts this week working on this piece. It is nearly complete and the two long light blue strips are facings that need to be flipped to the back and stitched down. The fabrics in this quilt have been piled up together for a long time and it felt good to finally assemble them. I tried a new quilting pattern on this work too. Sue Ellen introduced the QuEGs group to a pattern she called Mac Tavishim quilting at the February meeting. In looking over my notes I saw the drawing and thought this would be a good time to try it. The stitching pattern means one starts and curves out to a comfortable point and then returns in a somewhat reflective pattern to the starting point, to then one swings out again to the opposite end again. This process is repeated as many times as you feel comfortable or until the space is full, then you start a second. As this example shows I need to keep practicing, but I do like the process and think I can really use it in the future.

Far Horizons This very simple at this point. I cut the original curved horizontal piece into three sections, shuffled and flipped one unit, then re- assembled the group. Now I will begin to add lines and stitches as well as small objects on to the surface as embellishment. It will be a textural play surface for ” add-ons ” and more hand stitch explorations.

Purple Trees: This work continues to move along very slowly. I like how the trees are shaping up. The new problem is how to bring the three units plus their grounds together into a final grouping. I am inching forward as I do not know what I am doing when it comes to how to assemble this work.

South West Voices: This work got buried in the fall in one of my cleaning frenzies. It just surfaced again this week and I am now quilting away on it. The quilting here is zig-zag and some what reflective of the patterns in the multi colored fabric.

Stump Men: I just keep working on the felting of this project. This shot is of one of the roots. I think I am nearing the completion of this project and now need to do lots of looking and thinking about what touches it needs to be complete.

I am looking forward to true spring and not needing gloves and boots when I go for my walks. Those types of walks are always inspiring to me.

Keep Creating

Carol

Cre-8

Category Archives: Landscapes

Dec 6, Holiday Happenings

Open Studio November 21 , 2013

Sept 6 , 2013 Back to School

Aug 29, 2013 Walk in the woods

July 11, 2013 Summer Days

July 4 2013 Happy Birthday United States

May 23 2013, Spring Walks

May 16, 2013 Painting

March 21, 2013 Shaving Cream Printing

March 14, 2013 Day Light Savings Time

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer