Category Archives: Three Jacks

Circle Challenge, Diva Meetings, Green Leaf scarf, Label Blocks, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Snow Dyeing, Teasil I, Teasil II, Three Jacks, Xavier Wood Ice

Winter

 

IMG_7387Hello,

We are deep in the cold of winter here and that makes me stay in the studio and get a lot done.  But I do have the meetings that come at the first of each month.  QuEG’s meant.    Liz is busy doing hand work on her project that she dyed last fall at the  play/work retreat at the Schweinfurth.  That is her work at the top.

Sue Ellen'sSue Ellen is busy too and she made this colorful quilt for the Linus Project.  I always get  a lot more out of the group meetings.

Circle Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time I showed them all the Circle Challenge pieces all together.  IMG_7436.jpg That lead to a whole lot of playing with how they could or should be presented.   I continued the whole idea when I got home.

IMG_7433.jpgThere are just so many ways to go with them.

 

circle placementThe Diva’s had a good time playing with them too.   There was a lot going on at that meeting as well.

 

 

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Alice has finished her Bed Quilt and she made prints of the finished work to give to all the folks in the family who owned the bed so they have the history.   I think that is a good idea.

 

LiesaLiesa  is building a wonderful book on stamps.   She printed the stamps on fabric for this work and laments that she still has all the original  stamps left.

 

Donna's work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donna just returned from a 10 day retreat where she did a lot of Gelli printing and pastel work. IMG_7409Maureen is doing lots of work with indigo so she can do more teaching of the techniques.   She shares her knowledge so very kindly.

 

Regina's work Regina went off to the  conference called “ Rocky Road to California” and took a class with the Tentmakers of Cairo.    She keeps exploring new techniques.

 

 

Ruth's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruth is busy with her wonderful clam shells too.    It was a good meeting and I came home with new ideas of things to do with my own work.

 

 

Three JacksProgress report: Three Jacks This work is 28” X 40”.  Because I had to take it apart  to fix the nail at the bottom I took photos of the work without the glass.  No  problems with reflections that way.   I also did a major cleaning of the glass- something that I had not thought of before either.  IMG_7446The work is dramatic and I like it a lot.

cl up- three Jacks  The velvet jacks really convey the rich contrast of the two parts of the flower.

Snow Dying

IMG_7420It snowed this week and so I did a bit more snow dyeing.  It is snowing today too so I will do an orange batch next.

TeasilTease I   I did the hand stitching on this work this week.  It is almost ready to stretch.

 

 

Teasel II IMG_7386  I pulled this fabric for the background  of the green teasel heads I made the week before on Monday.  Then I worked hard on getting that section done.   I got all excited  and even moved on to pinning the heads in place.  They are not stitched down.  Teaseil II   No problem with contrast this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ScarfLeaf Scarf   I did a lot of free motion work on this piece and determined yesterday that it was complete.   It is based on a work I saw on Pintrest by  Amanda McCarvour.  close up os scarf I only work from what I remember not from any reading or recheck.  So when I did look a second time yesterday, I was surprised by how different they were.  I like the vanes of leaves mixed with the wool roving .IMG_7425  The places where I  tried to work in air collapsed so I think when I try it again I will put a layer of nylon net in the middle of the sandwich so there is a some stability to the whole thing.    That and more stitching lines will do the trick I think.  It will also help avoid the arching that happened with some of the gold leaves.

Xavier Wood IceXavier Wood Ice  I have been taking a lot of photos on my walks of ice and now I am ready to begin a new ice work.  This is the fabric lay out at about the middle of the process.

Pods IMG_7429 I have assembled two of the pods from the felted pieces that I made.  They are nor quite finished as I think I want to add some additional beads on the bottoms  of them.   But I am making progress.  It is like the circle challenge in the way that I can think  of more  variations for each side as I go along.   I will play until I tire of the process.IMG_7431

Scrap Happy  IMG_7432.jpgI have been assembling the strips and cut pieces from Ethel’s scrap box for a few weeks.  I cut them into five inch squares yesterday and made a block.  It is 17” on a side.  That is a little bigger then I usually use so I may need to make adjustments as I move forward.

Block #106Label Block # 106   I was in Jo Ann’s this week and I was tempted to purchase some additional embroidery  thread- but I resisted.  Then when I got home I did a little search and found a new bag full, so I am very happy I did not give into temptation.  Only fourteen more blocks to build.

Keep  Creating

Carol

Circle Challenge VI, Circle Challenge VII, Creative Assistants, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fling, Label Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Three Jacks

Working time

 

Four 6X6Hello,

I feel good about the confines of winter as I seem to get a lot done.  I am still feeling the energy of my show too.  I will take it down tomorrow however.  I have four works in the Cabin Fever Quilt show at Bette Branch Library here in town though.   These four little works  pictured here are my 6” X 6” pieces for the Rochester Art center.  I  mailed them off on Tuesday.   They are all part of the felted work I was doing last week.   I still have big chunks of the felting to use in the project when I get the final additional parts.

IMG_7349FAB meant this week and everyone had work to show and talk about.   This is Patti’s new weaving project.  The can at the bottom is full of her woof  threads.   IMG_7350 Judy put aside her red sweater for the summer and has not pulled it out again.  She is getting to the arm wholes near the top now.

 

Nancy'sNancy got busy and finished off six new placemats for her home.    They are spring like I think.

IMG_7381  We had another snow storm last night so I am doing more snow dyeing.  This is a shot of the top of the bucket shortly after I put the dye on top of the snow that is setting on top of the prepared fabric.   Now to await the melting/dyeing.

FlingProgress Report:  Fling This work is 50” X 34”.   It is based on a collage and  has Ethel’s Marbleized fabric( the orange) and my hand dyed yellow and the light green and blue stuff.  IMG_7366   The quilting is done in two styles.  For the orange and the white fabrics I followed the edges of the color changes.  For the purples I did a pebble style. IMG_7372

 

Circle Challenge VICircle Challenge VI   This work is 14” X 19” .   It has a lot of movement in it.  The quilting is reflective of the circles and done in quilting thread.  IMG_7377  I liked adding the beading at the end and I will do that again in number VII.

Circle Challenge VIICircle Challenge VII   I finished the  quilting last eve.   It is trimmed and ready for beads and facings so I will finish it quickly this week .   

 

IMG_7382 Three Jacks   I put this work under glass this week- and that makes  for awful reflections.   Then before I sealed the back with brown paper I checked it and noticed that I had some how gotten a nail on the outside  between the matt and the glass.   So I will need to take it all apart and do it again before it is complete. IMG_7383

 

Scrap Happy     IMG_7379.jpgI continue to work through Ethel’s scrap box.  I need to complete a scrap happy quilt for the Prevention Network so I have been putting in an hour a day putting the scarps together.   They are cheerful I think.

Scarf IMG_7353   I have always  enjoyed  looking at a project and trying to figure out how it was done.  So this week when I saw a wonderful image on Pinterest I thought- I will try to do something similar.   First I pulled out a lot of green roving.    After adding some leaves I cut from gold ribbon, I placed them  on some wash away and drizzle some yarn on top of the whole thing. IMG_7374   After placing a second bit of wash away on top to create a sandwich I started stitching everything together.   This will take me a while to complete, but I am looking forward to this little challenge.

TizelNew Work   I am all done with the assembly of the background for  this project.  But when I added the Tezel on top I did not quite  work as I though it would.    Then I looked at it in gray scale on my camera and realized the Tezel heads are too small and too close in value to the background.  The opposite of what I did with the Jack in a Pulpit project.    So I took the heads off and created new ones that are bigger and have a bit of orange in their color  to create a contrast with the background.  Brown TizelThey work a lot better.  Now I will need to create a new background for  the first heads.  I am going to test myself by creating it in the same  size as  the first and see if I can make it work with just a value changes.

Sharron’s ChallengeIMG_7380   Sharron  and I purchased the same kimono( the stuff in the center) last year and have a challenge to created something with it.  I pulled some fabrics that I think work well with this fabric and will start a project soon.

IMG_7344.jpg Creative Assistants  I finished off a new batch of these little fellows this week.  I need to really get going on them as I do not have much of a tribe yet this year.  I want to be able to give them away  at QBL this summer and not leave anyone out so I need to get going.

Label Block # 105 Block #105   I think that I only need to do fifteen more and I will be done with this step of this project.

Keep Creating

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