Category Archives: Name Game

Consider, Don't Know, Hand work, Name Game, Patti, Red Nebula

Progress

 

IMG_0132Hello-

Winter is still a part of central  New York, but today it is melting and that is a good reprieve from our cold and snow.

I continue to clean and purge.  This is day 13 of that process.  I did make a run to school with the back end of my station wagon  full   this morning, where I passed the stuff off to a fellow art teacher.     Doing that run did clear up some floor space.   I can see the end of the process now.

  I just need to do  a bit more sorting before I put stuff back on the shelves.   I do feel lighter and I am growing anxious to start some new work.

IMG_0144   I did a few other things this week.   On Sunday I volunteered at the   Schweinfurt Art Center for the final day of  the  Quilts= Art= Quilts show.   This piecer is one I was really taken by.  I had a chance to visit one more time with the work I really loved and think again about the processes other folks are exploring.

I also visited Sharon in her studio  this week.  We had a good time talking about what she is doing now that she has finished her graduate work.  This piece on the wall is one of the items she is pursuing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This work- Red Nebula, is one of the works I am donating  to the Jazz of Central New York  Auction.     IMG_0173  Name Game # 3 –Patti,  is the  second.   I always feel good about passing my art forward  as the process is the important part for me and selling is not my main goal.  I like what this organization promotes and does to keep Jazz  alive.

IMG_0166Progress Report:  Glyph  IV     I keep beading away on this project.  This tail of the L got completed this week.

Hand work  I continue to do my evening work too.  This project is coming along.

 IMG_0178 New work   I have been doing some drawing in preparation for the next work.  The new word is JOY.     I also experimented  with JIG- but I like the Joy a lot better.

   Tarot- Don’t Know     As I was feeling a bit starved for some  creative  work that was not related to the cleaning- I did two cards this week.  This card also reflects how much I  feel I am being left behind in this ever changing world- especially with  technology issues .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consider  This concept is really on the top of my mind as I look at all the stuff I have saved and collected.   I have spent a lot of time considering whether I will ever take the time to use and or look at some of the stuff.   It is difficult for me to let go of all the slides I have taken and collected even tough I do not have a working projector any more so getting rid of them should be easy.

Carol

Challenge III, Circle Challenge IV, Five Jacks, Label Blocks, Name Game, Three Jacks, Wendy and Mark

Word of the year- Value

 

CarmelizedHello,

This is a shot of Caramelized from the  Foundations show at May Memorial.  The opening was Sunday and there were about 100 folks there. Shot of show I was thrilled by the  positive  response.  I even sold one of the works.   It is a great space to show work as the walls are nice warm wood and the space is very large.

IMG_7230  Rosalie Dace gave me this card of gray scale and pushed us to lay out our fabric for a project from light to dark to see the Values in class last summer.  I feel I have not paid attention to this idea enough in my work so VALUE will be the word I concentrate on this year.    I plan to make a poster with that word on it to hang above my pin wall to help me keep the idea front and center.

IMG_7247   I also made a little promise to myself that every time it snowed more than an inch this winter I would do some snow dyeing.  This is the first batch.  I love the wild patterns and the color mixes.   It snowed again this week and that next batch is reds and pinks.   They are drying on the line now.

Wendy and MarkProgress Report:  Wendy and Mark- Name Game   This quilt is 50.5” X 45”.    It is the main reason I am doing  the word Value- because I feel this does not work as well as it might.   IMG_7243The shapes are strong and I like how they play together- but there just does not seem to be the vibrancy that I was hoping for.  IMG_7246    One needs to expect that there will be second rate work sometimes.  The important thing is to learn from the mistakes.  It will be a fine lap quilt.

Circle Challenge II Circle Challenge II This little work is 16” X 19.5”.   It flows well.  I am enjoying the challenge of using machine and hand quilting together as well as the bead work.IMG_7235

 

IMG_7236The projects are small enough that I get to move onto the next idea quickly.

Circle Challenge III   Circle Challeng IIII really like the darks that are a part of this one.   The addition of the triangles also makes this one more interesting  I think.   I am ready to add the hand stitching and feel that this time I will fall back to normal quilting thread.

IMG_7228Circle Challenge IV   I did the circle on this base before I really did the hard looking at the Challenge III.    It laques the  power that the dark gives the work in the other piece.  I will keep that in mind as I add the additional shapes to the surface.

3 JacksThree Jacks    These are my Jacks for this project.  When I got them done and drew the leaves I realized they would cover too much of the background I had built and its power would be lost.  So I created a simpler back ground for these Jacks.IMG_7224  This is still not simple- but I think I can make it work for this project.

 

Five JacksFive Jacks   So Three Jacks became Five Jacks.  The flowers are much smaller and they dance along the bottom edge of the rock face I had designed.    It is ready to be stretched now.

 

IMG_7239Bird Square   I   started playing with the the few little birds leftover from  a previous project.   It is at an early stage and will change with development.

Label Block 102  Label Block 102I just keep at these little squares  and they keep getting completed without much effort.   I am starting to think about what will come next when this project is done in about 18 weeks.

Keep Creating

Carol

PS. One more shot from the show.Show

Circle Challenge, Circle Challenge 2, Diva Meetings, Label Blocks, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Three Jacks, Wendy and Mark

New Beginnings

1 Comment

 

IMG_7166Hello,

In the deep cold we are experiencing now, I think of the wonderful warmth of spring and the new beginnings that  a new year makes on consider.  New sketchbooks, new book keeping,  and new calender’s are  all part of the new start for 2017.    I am working on choosing a new word for my focus this year too, but  have not decided quite yet.  Sue Ellen at the QuIG’s  meeting was thinking of spring too with this new Hosta leaf pillow she shared.  The machine work is wonderful.     The Diva’s also meant this week.  Because of the show that Donna is hosting for us there IMG_7190was lots of talk and work for that event.       I served as transport for work for Noel and Regina's workSharon  as both  could not attend.   Sharon kindly gave me a little gift in the form of one of the book marks that she makes for her booth.    I like it. Regina has been doing a lot of indigo dyeing. ( look at that pile)      Cheri's workCheri had two new pieces for the show as well as to share.    She also does such nice little surprises for the backs of her quilts that I am sharing one of those too.IMG_7173

 

 

Ruth's waveRuth got into a traveling trunk show for SAQA and  she showed us the new wave she did just for that.   I like the waves out to sea too.   Then there is the wonderful foam under the wave.   It is really a strong work I think.  IMG_7169

 

 

 

LLieseLliese   had a wonderful piece to share with us as well.    This piece is much bigger than she usually works.

I hung my Solo Show yesterday with the help of Steve and Lynne.IMG_7177  Preparing for this was a good experience for me as I got to really look at the body of work.    I have been on this earthy foundations work for about three years now.  We hung 21 pieces and I took 24 home with me that we did not use.  I like having a choice. My work    It is a beautiful place to display and I enjoyed doing that step too because of the wonderful help.

more work

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circle Challenge 2Progress Report:  Circle Challenge 1    I am pleased with how this turned out.   All the parts seem to work together for me.

 

 

Circle Challenge 2 IMG_7188  This second challenge has different colors in some of the strips and the rotation is different.  Three additional colored circles remain but the parts of the solid yellow circle have been dropped and replaced with four triangles.  I am ready to do the bead work now .

Name GameName Game Wendy and Mark  I am all done assembling the strips of this work now.   I made the back the other day IMG_7186 and I am now ready to add the batting and begin quilting it.

Three Jacks  Three JacksI have finished the background of this work.  Then I did some research followed by some drawing.IMG_7185  The paper patterns are enlargements of the sketch.  I still have one more to do as you can easily see.   I could not find the color fabric in my stash that I wanted to use so I had to purchase the green on Tues at Quilters Corner when I was there.

Bird BlockBird Block   I am playing with some leftover bird cuts from the Bird land quit here.   It is always  a little challenge to see if the remainders can become something on there own.    I am thinking now that I will balance the birds with some free motion  bushes based on this sketch book drawing.IMG_7184 They have such a light feeling that I feel they can balance the heavy birds on the left.

 

 

Label Block  # 101  Block #101I am working away on these little blocks.  Only 19 more to build now.

Keep Creating

Carol

Circle Challenge 2, Cotton Candy, Dead Horse Canyon, Felt Work, Label Blocks, Name Game, Uncategorized, Wendy and Mark

Numbers

Christmas CatusHello,

We are racing now toward the end of 2016.    In thinking about the end of the year  and closing my book keeping, I become very aware of numbers.   Because I am still enjoying Ethel’s fabrics I only purchased  38 yards of fabric this year and most of that in half yard units.    The first  for the  Label Block project for this year was block # 34.   This week I completed block # 100  so that is  67 blocks  for the  year.  A bit more than one a week.   I make pillows and  fill them with the cut off bits of batting  from the trimming and squaring off of  quilt work. This year I completed   9 pillows.   I donate quilts to almost every organization that asks for them and this year I gladly gave away  13 to such deserving origination’s like Ronald McDonald House, the Art Rage Gallery and my local Public TV station.   I am still ahead in that game as I completed 59 on my own creations.     I use lots of thread in my work and this year  and  I emptied   65 spools.   I was a part of  5 quilt shows and I am looking forward to my solo show in January.     I participated in 4 challenges.   A good way to stretch ones self.       I was rejected from 7 competitions.    But I keep trying.     I wrote and posted  37 blogs this year too.  This year has been a full   one with lots of  things going on in my quilt life.  Looking back,   I feel that 2016 has been a good one for me and I hope you can say the same.  I hope that I can face  2017 and handle the challenges it presents as successfully as I did this year.

Aunt Shirley's QuiltProgress Report:   Aunt Shirley’s Quilt  This work got shipped off  to it’s new home on Monday.  I hope it gets to my Aunt before her birthday Jan 2.

 

 

 

 

 

Cotton Candy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cotton Candy   This work is  12” X 12”.     It seemed to take me a long time to get to this little work.  I just kept shuffling  it to the bottom of the pile.  The colors are so very different from what I am working with at the moment.  But once I decided not to try to make it into one of my rock works it was easy and enjoyable.  I will try again for rose quarts later.

 

Name GameName Game- Wendy and Mark This work has gone through a major change sense last  week.  I added Mark’s name- (he is Wendy’s husband)- because the Wendy section was not enough.   Still it is not something I look forward to working on.  But I felt the same way about the one I did last summer where I used my own name. Perhaps that is the nature of this project. I am still shuffling  the strips at this point.

Dead Horse Canyon  Dead Horse CanyonI have been calling this wool work 1 for the last few weeks.   That just does not cut it so I selected a name.    This name comes from a childhood play area near my then home in Carroll Iowa.    I have been thinking about it a lot of late and though this could be a tribute to all those memories.

 

 

New workNew Work This is the newest rock based piece.  I used gabardine for the base and I also added fusible inner facing  to the back.   That extra body has some real strength.   I really like how it is not a warped as the wool piece above.

IMG_7149Circle Challenge 1   I have finished the hand  circle  quilting on this work now.  I am ready to add the facing and finish it off.

Circle Challenge 2Circle 2   With the end of Circle Challenge 1 in sight I put in machine quilting work on this one.  I now feel I need to work on the layout for the third in that series now.

 

IMG_7158Scrap Happy  I am working with the scraps from Ethel’s box this week.  She had a whole stack of batik samples and they are all 5” square just like the ones I made for my quilt in the fall.  So I am using them with some old and  new 5″ squares for this new top.

Label Block  # 100  LABEL Block #100As the big Spiegel  label  ( upper left corner) shows I am still using labels that are not all current.  I just enjoy the process.

May the new year bring you joy and creative times.

Carol

Aunt Shirley's quilts, Label Blocks, Wendy and Mark

Holiday Season

 

Judy's treeHello-

I am in the holiday spirit and enjoying the fun.     I like the lights, the trees, the great smells,  the bright packages and the candles.  Folks seem to be happier too.    This tree is Judy’s and it is always lovely.  Mother Nature is doing her part as well. Tree with snow All the trees were outlined in white this morning when I got up.  I sure like that look too. We had a FAB meeting this week.  It was good to see folks as we seem to only meet once a month now days.  Nancy had  been working away on her mother’s Blue Bird quilt and it looks great.IMG_7108She Circle Challene1has appliqued down all the  big  sunflowers now.  They look so happy.

Progress Report: Circle Challenge 1   This project is getting hand attention now.   I have completed adding the big beads and I am now quilting  big circles.IMG_7126  This is slow progress.

Circle Challenge 2 IMG_7123Because I am impatient I laid out and did the top for the second one in this challenge.   I have only stitched the shapes to the background.     I have several ideas about how to embellish this one.   There will be some color changes in the next one as I am out of some of the fabrics already.

Wool 1Wool 1 I have not touched this work in a few weeks so I really came back to it with clear eyes this week.  The colors need to flow together a bit more for me to be really happy with this one.  There is lots of distortion at this point too.  More free motion work will help that part.

 

 

 

 

IMG_7119.jpgPinks    This little work has not been touched in an even longer time than wool 1.  It dose make me feel like spring or cotton candy.    The spring thing is not a good sign as winter only started yesterday.

 

 

 

Wendy layout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name Game- Wendy and Mark   I am in the early stages of this new project.  These two sections are Wendy’s name on the top and the negative space on the bottom.   Mark layoutThe Mark sections are laid out the same. They are only pinned to the surface and not stitched down yet.  After that is completed I will stack the four parts and slice them into units and mix the pieces and put them back together.

 

 

 

Aunt Shirley's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Shirley’s quilt    This is a scrap happy quilt for my Aunt.   It is a small twin as the first one I gave her was too  big.   I hope this dose the trick.  It is a bit quieter than most scrap happy’s because   she asked for  lots of greens for her quilt.   I need to add quilting and do the binding then it will be done.    I gave away  a scrap happy today because my daughter needed one for her one of her clients.   Now I need to make a new one for the closet so I am prepared for  the next request.

 

 

IMG_7117.jpg Label Block # 99   This block went fast as the labels were so very big.  Only 21 more to complete.

I hope the joys of the season bless everyone’s, days.

Hugs

Carol

Label Blocks, Name Game, Relinquished Region, Spray Painted Works, Three Grand Sons, Working in a Mans World

Summer Days

 

Bubbles at the lakeHello,

Its summer here and I am enjoying the weather.  I spent a day on the lake with my art friends and enjoyed myself toughly.  As the pictures shows we played with bubbles and it was great fun.  I especially like how the bubbles still floating in the air are lightly reflated in the water.

The first TuesdayLinda's work of the month was this week so I had meetings.   First I went to the QuEGs meeting.   Linda is making great progress and quilting on her quilt.    She will be teaching this construction method at her quilt guild next month.   007 Barb was on a completion of work push last month and she showed us four works.  I like this one with all its texture.

009Liz did a shop hop and got into the Row by Row  game along with the shop license plate thing.     She will be busy at the machine for a while now.

Then I went off to theSharon's pannelDiva meeting.   Sharon got things started with her wonderful hand printed  screen.  There is a layer of organza on top with light green leaves printed on it too.

Lori's workLori  was  also on a finish up mission this month.  She completed three of her little works.   This one features a hand made button o the left.   I love how she builds up so many layers of stitching in her work.

Susan 035037  is looking and then working on old work with a new eye.    The dolls were started long ago and the wood cuts were as well.    It is always a challenge to return to unfinished business after time.  Her life style of living six months in Florida  and six months in New York means she does this all the time.   Quite a challenge in its self.

Anne  Anne is doing a powerful job with this work on grasslands and concrete.  I love how the roads add to the broken feeling of the trees.

Alice is working of getting041 ready for

the Art Trail.  I like this happy little fox work the best this time.

We had three visitors from the PEEPs group at this meeting.  They Pirscilla's workkindly showed us their work too.  Perscilla  is working on this great quilt using some of the Mola’s she has collected over the years.  I really like how she put space between each panel  and the red and green patchwork boarder is a strong addition too.

Jean dyed all the fabric 025

used in this piece.   I admire how she used the blue and orange together.

MarciaMarcia explained her  personal challenge for this quilt.   I like how she created great depth with all her own hand dyed fabric.

 

 

Progress Report: Relinquished Relinquiated RegionRegion    After the Diva meeting I felt I had to change the title of  this work.   Formerly it was called By the Shore.    This new title helps give more of a feel for the location.   I really enjoyed working on this project.  Some areas must have eight or nine layers of fabric work087088

with lots of stitches on the surface.   I so wanted the long vertical to be dark- but not black.  Building that area was a great challenge to me.    There are a wide variety of fabrics and yarns in this work: Silk paper, silk  organza, velvet, wool, close up valor, yarn, netting, upholstery fabric, rust dyed cotton and burlap.   If it was the write color –I used it.  Some areas took up to six hours to complete.

 

Working in a man's worldWorking in a Man’s World   Not until I took this to the QuEGs meeting did I see how a turn of 90 degrees could save this work.   I was just about ready to call it a lost cause when some one suggested I rotate it.

   081 The difference was amazing.   This only  reinforces how important having a support group is to me.       083Working

The hand work also adds to the work.

 

075   Name Game IV- Three Grandsons  This quilt also got finished this week.     Each of the boys is done in a different color.  It makes for a nice overall movement.077  I like too, how some of the lines meet across the seam lines. 078

 

Label Block       This block is number 15 in the series.  My pile is building ever so slowly.074_thumb.jpg

Keep enjoying summer and Creating too.

Hugs

Carol

 

051.jpg

By the Shore, Curvie Cuts, Foundations Series, Label Blocks, Name Game, Three Grand Sons

Visits

 

Unbroken Circle
Unbroken Circle

Hello,

This quilt-” Unbroken Circle”  is by my friend Sally Dutko.  I purchased it from her before I went to Indiana and I am enjoying it a great deal.   I think I can learn from  looking at the details of  this work.   I made the trip to Sally Dutko’s studio sale before I went off to Indiana.  She has a wonderful space with lots of display areas.   She is an artist I have long admired and I was fortunateSally to purchase one of her works for my self.  I will be very sorry when she makes her final move from this area.   She has given me great advice about my work in the past.

Indiana 15 057I had a wonderful time on my trip to Indiana.  Barbie is a wonderful hostess and we  did a lot during my stay.   We went to a visitors center in Nashville IN and looked at this wonderful Chihuly  among other things.   Indiana-15-013.jpg

This work, “Family Life”  by Susan Else, was a part of a wonderful show at the  Carnegie Center for  Arts and History in New Albany IN.   The works were  all excellent and we enjoyed ourselves.     Got me to thinking about some new approaches too.    Making our viewers choice created lots of discussion among the four of us.

We spent two days in Barbie’s  studio doing silk painting.  Indiana 15 063Indiana 15 076This strong scarf is her work.   Her work is wonderfully complex and she sells them at the Holiday event in town.   My work on the other hand is quite simple.   Barbie has developed this  wonderful stretch technique with pipes, rubber bands, rings and clips.  It is so very flexible that she can adapt it most sizes of silk that she wants to use just by moving the parts around.    The process of adding the guta was was easy and clean.       I have not done this type of thing in a long time and it dose require skill.my silk work

This top one came home with me as we got some work steam set on Sunday .  The second one is still in  Indiana with Barbie.  She will mail Indiana-15-074_thumb.jpgit to me when it is steamed too.

 

Hand work

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:   Hand Work   I  felt I needed to take some hand work with me to Indiana so I started this piece.    The base is a silk screen  I did a while ago.  I did a lot of couching on the surface and then added some of the slices from the jelly roll felting that I did last fall at Cheri’s Blue Moon studio.  I am enjoying the process.

Three Grand sons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Name Game- Three Grand Sons

I worked on this one before I left and again when I got  home.   I  have cut the three names into 4.5” squares and I am in the process of moving and playing with placement now.  When I am happy with that I will stitch them all together.

002_thumb.jpgCurvy Cuts – New Project    I got such positive feed on my work on “Encounters” that I had to go looking through my stash of fabric and make a second starter for a similar project.    I do enjoy cutting the curves more  every time I do it.    I have the other hand work project too so this one will not be seen again for a while.

 

Van Goth    When I went to Van gothMaine  in April I purchased a panel print of Van Goth’s Iris’s.  I though it would be a  good place for me to practice free motion work.  I tend to get excited and my stitches are not uniform in size.    So I have been doing little bits of this picture to help me build some uniformity .

Near the Shore   I am working away on this  piece.  There are lots of Near the Shorebits of different colored fabrics and yarns  building up on top of one another with this one.  I am building  rich color layers like a painter.

 

Spray Paint    When we went to visit Elizabeth she showed us her spray painted works.  They were amazing. 008.jpg  Marty and I tried it when we got home.  Control was much more difficult then we both expected- but we had fun.  I have tried to build a work using some of that material.   At this point I do not feel it is at all successful.  Even adding hand work did not seem to pull the piece together or give it the focus I think it needs.    Perhaps so input from my Diva and QuEG’s friends will help save this.   I am willing to just say it was a learning experience too.

005_thumb.jpgLabel Blocks    I have two blocks this time as two weeks have passed by.

Keep Creating

Carol

004_thumb.jpg

By the Shore, Encounters, Foundations Series, Label Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Three Grand Sons

More on Lines

Summer flowersHello-

I just had to post these flowers today.  I love both the color and the contrast in textures.        I have not been very good about

Street linesconcentrating on lines as I intended to be this year.  But I took a renewed look this week.     I was caught by the lines on the street and thought the are indeed one type of line- strait.  They are a lines of direction and ones of illusion.  They create a feeling of depth on a flat surface and lead the eye back in space.    Most art is an illusion and a  bit of magic.  I say magic  because  if one looks at the materials ( paint, pastels, fabrics and yarns) that an  artists starts with-it is nothing but magic when one looks at the end result.

Encounters 26" X 25"
Encounters
26″ X 25″

Progress Report:  Encounters This is my newest completed hand embellished work.  I put a postage stamp on the lower left to help with scale.  It is a standard size- but I am not happy with it.  So I will keep looking for an item to add along the side to help give the viewer a clue as to the size of the piece.

104 - CopyThis work has more of the fabric form the discharge screen printing class in it.  The  dark fabric is a Judy Roberts piece form her monthly mailing.   It came in January and I just knew I had to use it with the white material.   I think they play well together. 105 - Copy106 - CopyI have enjoyed doing the various stitches on the surface of this piece.  I only did machine work as stitch in the ditch on some of the seams  to hold it together. 107 - Copy

  By the ShoreBy the shore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am ready to start to build up the dark sections of this work.  I want it to feel deep – not just black so I am going slowly.     I like all the textures too

Name Game- Three Grand Sons    This is the next one in the series. Stage one here with Nick and Ben.  Both positive and negative shapes are shown here.

090091094 Gavin shows the second cut of the fabric.   It is already getting difficult to read the name.   I will slice all three  of the names into 4.5″ blocks and shuffle them next and put them all together for the top of this quilt.

New Work  New workThis top is all put together now.  It seems quite weak to me so I will have to do some wild machine work on top to  pull it into a work of some interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy 108  Sense I sold one more of my Scrap Happies to Beth  and there is a wedding for  Barb’s son coming up I started more work on these types of quilts.  The one with the red and black centers  is all setScrap II in rows. This shot is only three rows.

This second with three shades of blue as it’s centers   is not as far along When the rows are all assembled .  I will make scarp backs for the two of them.   They are always fun.

 

 

New Hand Work   Becausehand work I always want to have some hand work to do I laid out and pinned up this new start for my next hand challenge.  The white base has a bit of screen printing in pink on it.  I added some organza, yarn, silk paper and some of the felt slices  I made as a part of a play day with Cheri  had last fall.     I will be using mostly the same colors of yarn and floss as I did  for “ Encounters”. 

 

 

 

 

 

Spray paintedSpray Painted    I plunged in and started the quilting on this one this week.     I am outlining the reds and purples and then inventing the areas on the solid units on this top.   I am enjoying the process, but I am not sure about what I am doing.

 

 

092Label Block   I just keep working away on these little fellows.

I will be away next week so there will be no post again until July 2.

Keep Creating

Carol

Baby Quilts, Fabric Collage Constructions, Flag Challenge, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Make Visable, Name Game, Patti, Running Red, Spring Grass, Vernal Equinox

Mistake- Lesson Learned

 

064  Hello,

I have had a mixed week.  I spent Friday morning last week helping my friend Nancy and her Grand Daughter Jaelyn  do a little stencil work.  They were making a back pack and Jaelyn wanted her name on the flap.  We had a pleaset time stenciling  and as soon as she was finished, Jaelyn  pulled out the feather weigh and was ready to get back to assembly.

The  upsetting thing this Bears-001.jpgweek was a gift project.   I was making a baby quilt for a friends grandchild and I was nearly done.  I only had to add the strings for the balloons that the bears were holding and I would be complete.  I thought I really wanted to the strings to be strait so I pulled out a marker and drew the lines on to follow.  I was excited as I could see the end of the surface work for this project.081  I did not take time to test the marker and that was my down fall.   When it came time to wash out the marks I found that I had picked up the wrong tool and the marks will not come out.    I have tried several of the ways various folks have suggested from the inner078 net, but no success.    The quilt is ruined as a gift of course.   The pens do look similar, but that is an excuse.  I can go and purchase a gift, but some how that will not be the same.  I have no one to blame but myself for my haste.  I am disappointed with myself.  I am certain I will not make that mistake again.

Name Game III Patti Progress Report: Name Game III- Patti     This quilt is 14” X 26” .   I am so enjoying this processPatti- close up 1 as it really challenges my design skills when it comes to putting the blocks together.  One change in direction can 093change the whole movement of the work.      I like all the texture of the raw edges too as they seem to add a different type of movement to the final work.     There is also the challenge of using letters as a starting point because the shapes of letters involve strait lines and curves in ways I do not think ofPatti before cut drawing usually. This shot is of the work before I cut it into pieces.    I am dreaming of a new challenge using more then one name.  This could add to the spice of the project.

Vernal Equinox  Vernal Equinox This work is  22” X 25”.    I call this building process fabric collage.  I used lots of fabric textures in this work. 097 There are velvets, valures, satins, cottons, corduroys, and brocades here.  The 098wading and folding adds its own texture to the end product too.  I was trying to fill the surface with visual interest and I feel it was successful.

Running Red085I am to the quilting stage of this project so I am only showing a detail this week.  I used the  pattern on the red silk as my inspiration for that quilting pattern.  As it is turning out the double knit on the  old table cloth( on the left here) has some woven patterns in it that are similar to the swirls of the silk pattern.

077Make Visible is the title I have chosen for this new work.    I spent and afternoon with Susan last summer trying out all her mark making 076tools and  in doing that I wrote lots of different quotes.   I had pulled out a bunch of fabric last week and this piece seemed to go with one of the collections.  This shot shows how I star the assembly of this type of quilt.   I lay out were I want the big blocks and then I begin to fill in the spaces around them to create the top  using 2.5 ” and 1″ strips.

075.jpgFlag- Spring Grass   I got a call from Susan this week.  She too is struggling with this flag challenge that we created.  We agreed that for both of us, starting with the central image or center of interest  first- is not the way either of us works.   I am not comfortable filling in around the graphics we are both working with.  But I will persist as that is how growth takes place.  I only finished this one this week.  I am still struggling with the text as a part of this challenge too.

Label Block083  The beat goes on with this project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Diva Meetings, Label Blocks, Name Game, Patti, Running Red, Whip Shock Hill #2

Spring Effects

 

Spring flowers  Hello,

I will admit that the weather and the sight of spring flowers does effect me.    I have been on real “start new” push of late.  I have also been a little upset with one of my pieces- but more on that later.  This week was the Diva Alice's Pellicansmeeting and I was very excited as I have not been to one sense Oct.  The winter has been a bad one and it really kept me home.     But before the meeting  Cheri, Noel and I went to see Alice’s show of her  accordion fabric books in down town Ithaca.  They looked wonderful on the walls.  There were several I had never seen and so I am glad we made the effort to go and check the show out.          There was  lots and lots of new work at the Diva meeting too .IMG_3451Alice is getting ready for the Spring Art Trail and so she had this pillow among other things to share.    This one along with several others that will be for sale on the trail.Lorries work

One of the things that Lorrie does, is deep layered hand work and this is the one she is currently working on.    She builds so many stitches on top of organza and other fabrics to create great depth.  A different sort of collage fabric effect.

CheriCheri is doing wonderful canvas work  were she starts with freezer paper masks and builds paint layers on top and then stitches by hand and machine on top.   The layering isIMG_3446_thumb.jpg amazing to me.   Like me, she always has many things going at the same time and this spider ( in progress) is and example of her  3-D work.   I had given her the fabric that she used for the legs and body and I think that is why she brought it along.  IMG_3444Liese did this soft “Island Garden “ as her entry for a garden completion.  The plants that she stitched are ones that could grow under the sea/ tide/ wet conditions of the area.   Quilting can expand your horizons in unusual ways. Anne

Anne had this specular work to share too.    I really enjoy how she cuts up her photo graphics  to use as strong jumping off points for her work.   I find this piece wonderful!

IMG_3449Noel showed us several works and among them were these two quilts for the Rainbow Challenge for the Tow Path Quilt Guild.  These two along with 22 others will be on display next week end at the guild show in  the Manilas  Library.    Ruth has finished her quiltIMG_3461_thumb.jpg about Kemo Treatment and it is wonderful.  I am sorry that my photo of the full work is not sharp enough to post- but this close up shows how powerful her stitching is.  She has such strong skills.

IMG_3464Then Wednesday, I went and spent the day playing at Batik  with my friend Ethel.   We had a grand time and I now have six new pieces that will be starting off places for more work.  She has  a wonderful IMG_3462piece on the pin wall and I took a shot of it too.  She uses her hand dyes so very well.   I have been watching this one develop over the course of this year.  She keeps moving the pieces about as she develops the idea.

IMG_3471Progress Report:  Whip Shock Hill II  This work has given me a mix of emotions this week.   I had worked so carefully on mimicking  the photo and I liked that portion of the work.   I am done with the stitch workDetail form Whit Shock II and all the textures are down.    But- it does not work for me at all!    So I roll it up on Friday and  decided to take it to the Diva meeting and ask for help.   I am so very glad I did! One can easily get  trapped in there own head and not “see” how to get out ad solve a problem.  When I put this work on the wall next to Whip Shock Hill I    the group could see it was not working too.  But they helped with an easy suggestion.  Flip the  new Full shot of Whit Shock Hillpiece and add it to the other side.     I love the results and I can now add the sleeve and complete the set.

IMG_3418New Start   All the frustration  I was feeling about Whip Shock Hill and the effects of spring pushed me to pull materials for a new work.  I think all of these fabrics play well together and will make a nice piece.   It will be my next project.

  New Start Running Red IMG_3419        I pulled these fabrics at the same time.     I created the red and white fabric in the Deconstructed  Screen Class last fall and I really wanted to use it so I IMG_3421started with that stack.   There is some silk kimono  and taffeta in this work too.   I think  the frustration I was feeling also effected me a bit so I wanted to do something that I felt sure about.   It is coming along nicely  now.

Name Game  III- PattiIMG_3415  This is how this work looks before I started to cut it up.    A little planning will help the next time I do this technique.     And that planning is in the size of the work.    I was so concerned with getting the letters to fit that I was not careful with the size of the base.     In the last two pieces I  stared with  22” squares  and made 5.5” squares when I cut up the two layers.    This time I  made the  base   24 “  and had to make 4.5” squares and I lost some of the image from each row because it did not cut down to even units.      One needs to make the mistakes to grow.    I then pinned the  blocks to the pin wallIMG_3424 And IMG_3425.jpgstated arranging them.  That step took a while and I took many photos of the many  layouts as I went along.   This is the one I settled on. Now I will join them and quilt them together.

Ribbon Work    This work isIMG_3466_thumb.jpg growing slowly.  This is a case were not having a per plan may get me in lots of trouble as I go forward.  I have been just adding one hour’s worth of work on at a time.   But at this point I have no feeling for were I need to go next.  So I am just looking at the work.

Label BolckLabel Block 3
The hand work goes on with  my evening TV work.

Keep Creating

Carol