Category Archives: Lap Quilts

Off to Quilting by the Lake

Hello,

This week has been a full one for me.   I am of course packing for my two week at Quilting by the Lake.  I will have lots of new stuff to share  on Aug 1, the next time I post.

Summer walks continue to be full of new sights as well, such as these Indian pipes.

   I did go off to the    Opening of   the Rock  Garden Show on  Friday.  It is always a divers and interesting show.    I knew four artists this time.

Terri had this wonderful bed sized work in that show.   She has been working n it for years.

 

 

 

Barbara shared some of her quilts and  her paintings too.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheri showed off her print works.

 

 

 

 

 

Denise had four of her powerful felted works  on display.   The show is in Homer at the Art Center and will be up until  the end of Aug.

I attended the  Lavender Festival in Red Creek  with my grandson on Saturday and  zoomed with the Pixies as well.     I am blessed with a full life.

 

 

Progress Report:  Cut It Out      This work is 45.5″ X 28″.     it proved to be a challenge as giving the view in x-ray vision  meant I really had to watch what I was doing.    My pile of miss cuts was a big one.

 

I zig -zagged the edges and appliqued down textured yarn at the same time.

 

 

 Big and Small    I decided to take the Big and Small challenge.  This is my 12″ square that is the start of the  Small .    Some of the miscuts are used in this piece.  Now to do some embellishment work with thread.

 

 

 

Ties   I made more square for this project and I am all done creating them now.   I plan to start assembling  blocks later today.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap #12   I am working on the hand step of binding   this work now.    I want it done before I depart on Sunday.

 

 

 

Handwork     I did a little handwork this week.  I sure made a lot of blocks for the Joyous Embroidery class- still some left to complete.

 

New Cuts      I have new ideas for a scissors themed  project.  So I  though I would try a different approach this time and make  a paper pattern that I could trace and move  around  on a background.    Here is my new pattern in a heavy paper.    I will let you know how this works in the future.

Enjoy summer and keep creating’.

Carol

 

 

July Days

Hello,

I hope you enjoyed your 4th in what ever fashion you celebrated  it.

I picked a few  wild black berry’s from the bashes we pass on our walk this week.  They are sweet even in small doses.    I had a Diva meeting this week and it was quit enjoyable.                                                                Anne shared her piece from the Iron Quilter experience on Sat.   I think this is an amazing amount of work for less than 4 hours.

 

 

 

Lori shared her shadow prints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 She also had some of her  beautiful hand work to share with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria, Liz  and went to Angela’s for a summer lunch this week too.   Angelia  dose such  beautiful felt work.   I really love the rounded container!

 

 

 

 

Then Wednesday, I went with Wendy to the Botanical Gardens in Buffalo for even more inspiration.     The plants were amazing.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:   Dragonfly Days   This work is 46.5″ w X 44″ t.     I had a good time working on this project and I am sure I will do another similar piece.   I did it to celebrate the things I learned in class last summer.

The dragonfly wings are a cut up  ribbon and the body is beaded .

 

 

The flowers are a combination of roving and Angelina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scissors   I am making slow progress on this work.  the overlapping is proving to be a bit more difficult than I thought it would be.      I will try it again and approach it a bit differently.

 Lap #12   I still need to layer and quilt this top.   I like it none the less.

 

 

 

 

 

Tie Blocks   I took the blocks up and tried them on my bed to see how many I would need and mixed up the order so I am not sure if these are new or not.   I need  14 more to finish this project.

 

 

Handwork.   I am still finishing up blocks from the   Joyous Embroidery class .    Three more complete.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you are enjoying the summer and that good times are filling your days.

Keep Creating

Carol

On last blossom

Berry Season

Hello,

As I plucked a ripe  berry form the Mulberry Tree  on our walk, I was  reminded that when I was in Kindergarten I learned that there were 4 seasons.  So when summer came and there was Cherry season, and Strawberry season, followed by Raspberry season, I was a little confused and wondered why they were so short.   My Dad explained that the fruit seasons were just labels for what was ripe and a joy to eat at times of the year, while the four seasons represented the leant of day light and weather.   My childhood mind still though it was a bit unfair that the berry seasons were so short.   I am  now enjoying watching the  blue berry plants grow large wonderful large green berries in Rachel’s  yard,  and paying attention to the first ripening  wild  black berries  along our path.    I love berry seasons, perhaps that is due to how brief they all are.     My other big delight this week was to discover a young opossum in my hedge when I was watering my plants .    Then there were all the firefly’s  in my back yard last night .   Nature is constantly surprising me.

My only quilting events this week were  a  FAD meeting and a Pixie Zoom meeting.

Progress Report:   Lap 11   I really enjoyed this project this week.  It is so very cheerful.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 12     I can’t let things go so I started a new one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field of Flowers    I try to work on this every day  so I am making progress  on it.   I think I only need to add the last of the free motion,  Angela, and  roving flowers I did to start this idea .

  Tie Quilt   In my efforts to clear away and finish up things I came across a box full of ties that a friend has sent me.   I decided to tackle building some blocks for a bed quilt with them.

 

 

Scissors Quilt  Marty sent me this little image of a painting made with scissors.  The water color artist had allowed himself to have X-ray vision with the work.  Seeing that was all it took for my imagination to go flying.     So I arranged my scissors and did a drawing.  This full sized drawing is the result.   I have pin based a base  and I am ready to start cutting pieces to fuse down and stitch now.

 

 

Glove Block # 5      This is my handwork for the evenings at the moment.      I am now ready to move on to the next block.

 

 

 

 

Flag for Susan     I came across this perfect piece of handwork by my Aunt May and though of Susan’s flag project.   I will mail it this week.

 

I hope folks are enjoying the wonders of summer.     Due to the fact that next Thursday is the 4th of July ,  I will not publish until Friday next week.

Stay Safe

Carol

 

 

Summer Solstice

Hello,

We are to the longest day of the year today .    It is also very hot in this part of the world.   It will be  a while before I really notice the shorting days.   I do enjoy the sunlight though. We also have the Strawberry Moon this evening. I hope it stays clear and I get to view it.

This week was a  busy one for me.   Friday,  Liz and I went to Marcia’s for a sewing day.    Joyce worked on her Bog Coat as did I.

 

They help on hemming was what I needed  and mine is finished now.

 

 

 

 

 

Deb enjoyed Zoie.

 

 

 

Marcia showed off one of her jackets.

We had a good productive time.

I had a Sisterhood Zoom meeting and the Pixies meant too.

 

 

 

 

The Naturally Inspired class got my attention as I did a group of Gelli prints for that class.

 

 

 

The teacher also suggested that one cut their stencil shapes from Yupo paper.  It really works well and  holds up nicely.    I  will use it in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Swoop II This work is 37″ w X 46″ l.    It is made from leftover blocks from the first Swoop piece.

 

 

I had more fun with the quilting on this one than the first.

 

 

 

 

Lavender Floor   This work is 31″ X 24″.  I was playing with the free motion work and the roving again here.    The fish and the starfish both have this technique  as a part of them.

 

The sea grass is made from nylon netting and two different ribbons that I gathered to get the ripple effect.

 

 

 

 

Lap 10   The top is all pieced together  and it is pin based now.  I will  move forward on it this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Glove Blocks I have just pinned this piece together and started to stitch the handkerchief down.    In my sorting this week I found some more of aunt Shirley’s and grandmothers handkerchiefs too.  The gloves here are from Liz.,

Floral Garden   I have stitched down all the sunflowers and most of the leaves on this project.   I am just about ready to add more blossoms.   These flowers and the one I plan to add are made with the roving and free motion  technique that I learned in the QBL class last summer.

9X9X9  I added a boarder to this work and it is pin based.    Now I need to wait for the last portrait before I can go forward.

 

 

 

Envelopes  I always save my papers from painting and turn them into envelopes.  I realized that there were quit a few of them rolled up in the corner so I pulled them out and made a new batch of envelopes.     It is my personal way of recycling.

 

 

Please stay safe and cool as you can at this time.

Carol

 

 

Half Moon

Hello,

This evening we will see the flower half moon in our skies.  Change is such a constant  that one can forget to notice.  I did  notice the cottonwood seeds piling up along the road today on our walk.  “Summer Snow” was what Nick called it in his childhood.   I even caught one of the little white things as it drifted to earth this morning.  I guess  I am paying more attention that I thought.

The week has been a full one with a trip along with  Liz to Marcia’s for another play day.    Joyce had her newest doll  called “Holding It Together.” We all sort of feel that way now days.

 

 

 

 

 She and I also started Bog Coats at that time.   I am struggling along on it now.

 

 

 

 

 

My good friend Joyce  Holman had an opening on Saturday at the Art Rage Gallery.       I really love her work.   So much action  and great color.

 

 

 

 

 

I did the homework for my Naturally Inspired class as well.  We are [painting backgrounds at this point.

I did the SAQA on line lecture on Wed and attended the  Pixie meeting too.

Progress Report: Ethel 5   This is the last piece that is made with blocks that Ethel started.   I did have to make some to finish this, but I used her fabrics to do so. I feel a bit sad to close this door, but it’s time I guess.   Her fabrics are all integrated into my own stash at this point, but I still look of batiks and think of her.

Lap #8  I am working on getting this piece fully quilted at this point.  I am sure it will be done soon.    It is made up of blocks leftover from the 100 day BV project.

 

Lap  #9  I am to the binding step on this project.

 

 

 

 

Lap #10     Off on another  bit of play with this new lap work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Work  I am still building little nine patch works as a background.  Progress here even though my original goal has been cancelled.

Purple Washup    I was not happy with the melting of the Tyvek on Wash Up, so I used ink to color the surface this week  and started a new  piece with it.     The ink allowed for lots more distortion of the surface. 

 

 

 

 

Collages  I got busy and worked on collages on Sunday.   These are the results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Handwork  I have been doing a little handwork on this piece.  It is a leftover form the Joyous Embroidery Class.

 

 

Flag  Susan’s assignment from a few weeks ago inspired a new flag having to do with the environment.

Enjoy the seasonal changes and keep Creating

Carol

 

Quilt Show

Hello,

I went along with Liz and Cheri to see the Genesee Valley Quilt Fest on Saturday.     The company was wonderful and the show a good one.   I am always glad to see that quilting is thriving.   I septically enjoyed the section of the show that was SAQA work.   I got some new ideas from those works.

 

 

And Yes, I did shop and purchased some fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheri and I went to Ellen Blaylock’s lecture too.I have always enjoyed her work and I loved the two Medusa quilts that she shared with us.    This quilt is  what Ellen calls Medusa’s daughter.  It was a fun and stimulating day for me.

The Pixies and  FAB also meant this week .

My big news is Sharon’s proposal for a show was accepted and we spent a day looking at the space and talking about what we want to do for that show.

Progress Report: Shore Line Washup  This work is 21″ X  24″.   It is my latest in the works from my Joyous Embroidery  class.     I read about using Tyvek  by painting on it and then applying heat to get distortions. I  got carried away with the paint and it was too thick so it did not melt too much.   I will try again and  be more careful with the application.    I added old belt buckles , wooden beads, and yarns on top of  one of my old rock pieces then stitched it down.   This work also got some glass  beads from Cheri added to the surface .   This work  is on stretcher bars.

 

 

 Lap 5    I completed this work this week and I am pleased with the results.   It is made up of leftover blocks from the 100 day challenge.

The quilting is liner in the same fashion as the blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 6     I put together this piece from   more  leftover blocks .    I need to pin basted it for quilting now.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 7  One more lap quilt  top that I put together on Monday and Tuesday.   It is pin basted from quilting and I plan to tackle it tomorrow.

 

 

 

Lap 8   I pulled these fabrics for the next lap quilt.   The print at the top is a photo print fabric that I purchased on line last winter.  I love the look, but I am having a difficult time descending how to use it.  It is almost too busy for me.

 

 

 

New Work  I decided to make a neutral background in nine patch for a little challenge that Sharon presented.

 

 

 

 

Shibui    I did these at Angela’s two week ago.   They were in the wash last week when I wrote.   I wish they were a little bit richer, but then we were  playing with lots of unknowns.

 

 

 

 

Asha’s Quilt  I am nearing the end of the precut blocks that my friend Ethel made.   I contacted her daughter and asked if she wanted one.  She suggested I make a baby quilt for Ethel’s great great Granddaughter Asha.   That is what this top will become soon.

The garden is calling at this time of year too so I  have less to to apply to quilt work.     I enjoy both processes.

Stay playful.

Carol

 

More changes

Hello ,

My daughter gave me flowers for Mother’s day and they are beautiful.   This could be jumping off place for  some new work too.

Nature keeps amazing me.  The red bud from last weeks photo has dropped all its blossoms now and has little green leaves instead.  Both the oaks and walnuts have bloomed and leaves are forming.   They are about three inches long at this point and so very delicate.    It is such a wonderful time of year.

I shipped off five lap quilts to my Aunt for distribution in her  nursing home.   It is good to have a goal.

This week has been quiet here with only two meetings.   The Pixie Zoom group meant yesterday.  We always talk of interesting things and catch up with one another.

We had a play day at  Angela’s this week too.    We were  doing Shbori with watered down inks.     Victoria did some wonderful work.

Angela showed us her most recently completed work too.  She dose wonderful hand work.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  SAQA Auction.    This is my   12’X 12″  entry for the SAQA Auction this year.     I do so enjoy doing them.

 

 

 

 

Lap 5   I quilted this piece this  week and I am now in the process of stitching down the binding.

 

 

 

 

Lap 6     This work also got totally assembled   this week.  The quilting is all done and it too with get the binding worked on this week.

 

 

 Lap 7  I started a new lap quilt on Monday and I only have a little of the parts to fill in now.

 

 

 

 

 

Ethel 5     I finished the binding on this work yesterday.   Now I need to do some diagonal quilting  and it will be complete.

 

 

 

Shore Line      The Tyvek  I painted last week did not melt much .  I think I used too much paint.  It is  was still fun to knot it up with additional stuff like old belt buckles and beads.   I am in the process of stitching it down and adding beads to the surface.   This work is  built on top of  one of my rock pieces  from the foundations series.

I love the season and all the changes that are happening.   Life for me is great.

Keep Creating

Carol

May Days

Hello,

We are enjoying spring here and every day there are more leaves on the trees.  Lots of flowers too.  I really enjoy all the daily changes in the world.

 

 

 

It has been a busy week for me.  There was the usual Pixie  zoom.  Susan gave us a challenge last week .  It was to make some flags.   I did two  and now I only need to add  sleeves and some weight to the bottom so they hang strait.   I will sew on buttons  along the bottom  to do that job .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Diva’s meant on Tue and there were lots of goodies to look at the meeting.

Alice had several more of her bottoms series to share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barb is working hard on her stuff too.  She is having trouble with her shoulder so  she will have to hold off  when the surgery happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheri is doing a bit of Collage and this is one of three musicians  she did.    I like them all.

 

 

I did do modules 2 for my Naturally Inspired class so now I have a big collections of images and natural elements to work from.

Progress Report:  Swoop    This quilt is 34″ X 45″.     I am happy with how very flat this quilt is.

 I can see that all the pressing  and the intense quilting  really dose help.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 2  This quilt used lots of bits from my 100 days prints from last year.      They are mostly consumed now .

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 3    This is an old top that just did not do what I was hopping for so I cut it down a bit and quilted it into a lap work.  I only have about a foot of work to do on the binding   to finish at this point.   It will keep someone warm.

 

 

 

 

 Lap 4  This lap quilt is made form leftovers from this years 100 day projects.   It is pin basted and I hope to get to  the quilting this week.

 

 

 

 

Lap 5   This quilt is a  made from remainder blocks form Swoop.  It too is a lap project that I have just started to quilt.

 

 

 

 

  Tyvek Project.   I took a little time out to paint some tyvek yesterday to make some new texture material to work with I wat to explore some more of the ideas  that I keep reading about.

I hope spring energy is filling your efforts too.

Keep Creating,

Carol

 

 

It’s May

Hello-

Spring is every were around here.   So many fat buds popping out form one day to the next.    And the dandelions are going to seed already.      I started a new Art Take 2 class this week called Naturally Inspired with Tara Afford.  So I am paying special attention to natures changes.     I am still finishing up projects from  Finding Fragments too that I will add later.   I love all the changes this season brings so very quickly.    I was a part of our local park clean up this week as well.  It always amazes me how careless folks can be with their waste.

Last Friday there was a play day at  Marcia’s .     Deb  worked on the binding of this challenge piece.

 

 

 

 

 

I worked on the quilting of this block for the lace  and glove project.

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to try to make Bog Coats at our next play day .     This shots shows three of the gals looking at  a started Bog Coat by Perilla.

 

 

 

 

 

The Pixies also meant this week and  there was a challenge to draw the fellow members from the screen shots.  Here are Robert, Susan and Lora  as I saw them.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Swoop   I am quilting away on this project now.  I only need to finish the corner areas and this step will be complete.

 

 

Lap 2   I pin basted this piece yesterday afternoon.     I have decided to send this one along with two others to the nursing home were my Aunt Marce  is living.    It has some of the printed blocks from last years  100 Day challenge in it.

Lap 3   I pin basted this piece this morning and it too will go to my  aunts as well.     It is so good to have a goal.

 

 

 

 

 

Ethel 5   I have now started to assemble the last  blocks that my friend Ethel started.  She passed away 11 years ago.   It is both a happy and sad act for me.

 

Fragments 1    This is the fragments project with the plaster overlay  on the parts.  The  plaster does do a good job of unifying the work .   It is very difficult to stitch through.

 

 

 

I don’t think I will apply this technique to much of my work, but one never knows what the future may holds.

 

 

Grandmother’s Fragments    The really strong point of this class for me was seeing a way to add new life to the bits and pieces of my Grandmothers’ work that was torn , worn and unfinished.   That’s the main purpose of this piece.

Drawing     I did this drawing from one  of the images that Tara  shared with us for the  Naturally  Inspirited  class.

 

 

 

 Post cards    I did a little work on post cards this week.    I always like to play while I am on the phone.

 

Enjoy the seasonal changes.

Keep Crating

Carol

February Begins

  Hello,

We had a light snow earlier this week.  It reminded me of how I use to use days like this one to teach drawing a tree to my students.  I would pass out gray paper dark crayons and a white one to each child.   Using one of the dark colors they were instructed to start an upward line that began a little ways for the bottom edge to moving vertically and stopping about an inch from the top of the page.  Starting again at the base the next line was to run up the paper touching the original line and “Y’ing  off near the top of the first line.   Repeat the second action on the opposite side of the original line.    The next set of lines was to begin  again from the bottom only this time there should be two sets of   “”Y”  on on top and one below the branch.   Line set  four started at the base and went up about one third or less  of the trunk then was to veer hard  slightly upward to the right or left  depending on the side of the trunk were the line began.    The students were then told to add more lines starting at the base and  “Y”ing  the branches  to fill in the tree.   Now I would also tell the students that the snow rested on the top of the branches and so they also needed to add  a white bit on the horizonal portion of the trees.    These drawings although very similar were always beautiful.     The kids trees got more interesting and personal with observation and time.   It was a good jumping off place for them however.

This week was quiet and my only trip away from home was to visit with Angela.     She took  the Bits and Pieces class too and this is one  of her works from that on line class.   She gave me some valuable  feedback on my work and I am doing some corrections now.  Angela is also working a lot with felt and took a class on line were she learned how to make vases and lamps.  These are impressive I think.

 

The Pixies meant as  usual  too.

 

 

Progress Report: Ethel  3 I keep working away on assembling this project.  I have five rows added and seven to go at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 3    This work is pin basted now and ready for the stitch in the ditch quilt work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tidewater II   Angela and Liz gave me some good advice on how to go forward with this work yesterday.   I am excited about it.

 

 

Barbara Blocks  This is my SAQA  100  project  with the top all assembled.   I decided to call the work Barbara Blocks in memory of my friend.   I am sure I will make the 25 day dead line for this now.  I also plan to try a second arrangement as I have lots of blocks left over.

 

 

Past Times  I finished another block for this project.   I will add more handwork to the blocks before I put them together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentines.   I only need to do the message inside to completed these cards.  I will mail them next Wed.

 

 

 

 

Collage   This work is part of the Bits and Pieces  class work.  After seeing what Angela was doing with hers, I was inspired to finish off some of the stuff from the class.   This is the first.

 

The days rush past and I try to pack them with lots of creative work.   I hope your days are similar.

Stay safe

Carol