Hello,

I have been enjoying being out of doors and doing lots of yard work this week.  Being gone always means lots of catch up for me and that seems to be how I have spent most of my time.  That and meeting with my friends that is.    The first Tuesday of the month was this week so I had the usual QuEG’s  and Diva meetings plus the FAB group has moved to the first of the mouth too.  It is good to see all my friends  and it is very stimulating.

Barb started off the QuEGs meeting  with her three “sliced block” tops.    She sure seemed to be having fun with them.   Then we moved on to Linda who is taking an on- line class where she is doing prep work for a quilt about her Irish Grandfather.   The notebook is a work of art all by it’s self I think.    She is collecting lots of ideas to work from for the project.

Then we looked at Liz’s strip blocks.   It is a memory quilt using  her friends father’s shirts. The  outside  strips of each block  are from the shirts.  The florial  prints in the centers represent the friend.

Then we looked at Sue Ellen’s work.  This new fish quilt of hers really is a joyful one I think.   This photo does not show it- but the green has a wonderful reflective quality that really adds to the feel of water in this piece.

Next we looked at Sally’s wonderful work.  She has finally finished piecing  her “One Block Wonder” top.   I love how she used the fabric in such a way that the quilt goes from light to dark in a diagonal sweep across the top.      She continues to work hard on her Machine Embrodery too.   All the lemons are drawn in thread as is the green sprig and the pie crust.     Her work always blows me away.

After the meeting I drove south and picked up Susan who is now back in Central New York and we rove to the Diva meeting together. Where I got my second jolt of creative stimulation.   Sharon who is going to graduate school had lots to share. Photos, prints and quilts   as she prepares for the many art  shows she partisipates in during the summer.   She is one busy gal.

 Donna is taking a class in Spirit Cards and this a shot of one of them.   I am sorry that there is so much glaire here.   I like too how all the groups I belong to are so accepting of a wide varitey  of different materials as well as styles.  

Anne peresented this finished piece at the meeting too.  I think the machine work really adds a lot of secondary interest to the surface.    I admire how she uses her fabrics.

Susan spent six weeks in Mexico and she built this day journal of that event.   She challenged herself to try lots of different techniques on  six inch pellon squares with each square representing an event for each day of the trip.    I think it is a wonderful way to stay on track and to be creative at the same time. This close up shows foil she found in Mexico behind the painted and  cut out pellon sheet.  

The FAB group meant this week as well.    I taught them how to make silk paper.  This shot shows Victoria working at that.   Nancy made clouds with the silk roving that she intends to use on her new bed room quilt  as a part of  the sky.

Victoria and I are in a color class later this summer.   She is preparing for that by doing a  bit of progressive dying  for that project.   I think this color run is great.  It will be fun to use them in class later.

Patti is the owner of a new pin loom and she has been weaving away.    She loaded it up and started a new project during our meeting.  I can hardly wait to see  the finished piece.

I like all the color that she is using here.     With all the visiting going on, I did not do much work on my own stuff.  I am OK with that one needs to fill the well every now and then.

 Progress

Report:  Three Trees and a Singer   The title of this quilt has changed from just Three Trees  to the new one because I added a black bird.   It is very small in this image, but it is there on the far left tree about half way up.  I added the bird last because I thought the work needed a little  reason to look with  a bit more care.

 The bird is in this closeup. The trees are all based on pictures  I took  in the winter of  trees in my  backyard.  The trees are all full of leaves now I am glad to say.      The photo to the left here shows all three techniques that I used to create the  trees.     The brown is a wool I started with and the black is yarn that I stitched down on top of  the wool.  Then after I had stitched together i sewed it  to the background.   Then  I loaded the bobbin with thick tread and from the back I free motion drew the limbs onto the surface of the quilt.   I enjoyed creating  this quilt.

 Daily News ( Formerly Daily’s)   These are the last of my Daily’s.  I say that because I feel I have learned what I needed to from this project.  I am calling the work Daily News because I worked on the pieces every evening  during the time the news was on TV.   Now I have to figure how what to do with the pieces I have created.   I have 240  four and half inch squares.   They are not finished so this can’t be the end.   I do not want them to simply end up in a box and  I do not want to simply sew them together as I have enjoyed placing them next to one another in various arrangements.      I am thinking of several possible solutions and I will spent this week making my final decision about that during this time.  That and planning the next possible mini challenge.

I hope the week ahead is full of good creative time for all.

Hugs

Carol