Category Archives: Tee Shirt Quilts

Childhood Memories, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Feathers, Night Fire, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Tee Shirt Quilts, Wildfire

Cool Fall Weather

Sept 12

Hello,
Today is cool and rainy. A good day to do work.   Tomorrow is Friday the 13 and the moon will be full.  Be sure to check it out at those two things will not happen together again until  2048.

There was a QuEG’s meeting this week. It was good to see folks. Liz brought her project form the Silk class. It looks good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sue Ellen is finishing up projects and this is one.

 

 

Corrine was at the Red Thread workshop at Ghost Ranch.    This was one of her projects

 

 

 

 

This is one of the projects that Angel has just completed. She is taking an on line class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She also experimented with some direct eco printing.  These cards are the result.

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a Diva meeting this week.

Maureen shared her knowledge of Spoon Flower with Susan and the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheri had new work to share too. This is one of her pieces from QBL.

 

 

 

 

 

Noel also had work from QBL to share with us.

Lots of nice hand work here.

 

 

 

 

Liesi  did some dyeing with her grandchildren this summer and she shared it with us.

Both meetings were lively and enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

Associated Artist is having its Members show this week. This is Barbara’s piece from that show.

 

 

 

 

This is my work at the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Seven Feathers This quilt is 28″ w X 48″ l. I finished the reflective quilting this week. I am glad to have learned the processes that Betty Busby teaches.

 

I made the marbleized fabric at QBL about 30 years ago.  The batik is from the day we made it at Regina’s earlier this spring. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tee Shirt Quilt 2 I finished up this work yesterday too. I am glad to have completed the project. Now I need to get it to my daughter and onto the family.

 

 

Night Fires I have finished all the free motion work on the orange and yellow sections of this quilt. I want to add some hot spots with red. I think I will do the work on the dark parts of the forest first though.

 

 

Apples ans Chickadees    I have started to do the machine quilting on this project.

 

 

 

 

 

Coral Sea This is just the beginning of this project.  It has been  a long time sense I have done a sea floor piece and I thought I would like the stretch again.

 

 

 

 

New Project- old lace I need a hand work project for my trip to Chicago in Oct. So I am beginning by building this back ground.

 

 

Topographical   I am still couching down the blue yarn on the brown sections of this work.

 

 

 

 

Wool Rounds I have button whole stitch around all the wool circles but one. It is relaxing.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories; The Bell Visit
When we were in the Tetons my aunt Marce and uncle Paul brought my cousin Russell out for a visit. Uncle Paul was a man who loved to play practical jokes. While they were visiting he spent one afternoon in the ranger station setting on the floor chipping out arrow heads. Then when he got home to the farm in Iowa he dropped them around the barn lot and had a good time rediscovering them when ever a sales man showed up.   After picking up an arrow head he would make   little disparaging statements like” Oh no another one” and preparing to toss it aside. The sales man always offered him money of the “find” from the “ old Indian encampment.”

The second day of their visit we went to visit Craters of the Moon. That meant a drive across the continental divide.  Gene, Russell and I were in the back section of the station wagon. The boys started daring one another to eat the play dough. I did not get into that. As we climbed higher and higher with all the switchbacks the two to them got sick- we had to stop the car and they both exited quickly and threw up over the side of the mountain. I never told anyone why they got ill. They were fine when we got to the park. I do remember that although we stayed mostly on the paths with our running and exploring, the sharp lava glass nearly shredded the soles of our shoes.   It was a good exhausting day.

Keep Creating

Carol

Burning Woods, Childhood Memories, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Mom VI, Tee Shirt Quilts, Wool Rounds

Labor Day 2019

1 Comment

Hello,
This week was Labor Day and even though I have been retired for years it still represents the end of summer and the beginning of   fall and school for me. It was a quiet day and I worked in the studio a lot. I got to thinking about horizons as I watched the children walking to school this morning. The Father was sharpening them along toward new futures that would certainly broaden the horizons of those young minds. Horizons are a important part of artists work too. It is a part of many a landscape and a great tool to use to show depth in art work. Just a small shift can change ones perspective and the horizons one sees. It is a way for one to explore even thought we are through with formal schooling.

I did unroll my Eco Dyeing projects from the  Finger Lakes Fiber Artists play day two weeks ago.   I am sorry to say the beets red dye turned black  with time.  But the red silk that I used did transfer lots of its color.      This is the paper.

This is the fabric.

 

 

 

Progress Report: Seven Feathers I have stitched down all the feathers at this point and I am doing reflective quilting to complete this piece.

Tee Shirt Quilt I finished the construction of the back for this quilt yesterday. Now I can begin the sandwich and quilt it.

 

 

 

 

 

Burning Woods It seemed like it took a long time for me to begin pinning on this work. Now it is moving along quickly. I have even started to stitch down some of the parts of this work.

Memories of Mom This work appears and disappears the stack of things to do so progress is slow. I am also unsure about whether I   have pulled together all the items I want to use on it.   I just need to keep exploring.

 

 

Wool Rounds     I am finished with this first batch of circles.  I am now working on a second bunch.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Schoolroom Glacier

This memory is also  of the Tetons. When Dad was a ranger Mom wanted to go to Schoolroom Glacier. It is a classic example of how a glacier pushes rocks to for a moraine and a lake as it moves forward. We never made the trip that summer as it is 14 miles from the trail head at Jenny Lake to the glacier. Farther then she thought we  ( I was 10 and Gene was 7 ) could hike in one day. But when we returned to the Tetons and Yellowstone the year I was a senior, we rented horses and made the trip.  Do to a heat event ( precursor of climate change) the snow at the front of the glacier collapsed into the lake and a lot of water flooded out. This destroyed the perfect V that was usually a part of the moraine. It left a big cave like form in the front of the glacier too. Mom was very excited and took a lot of photos to use in her class.  She also purchased older slides of how it had been before the collapse. While we were there it stated to rain. I had a new cowboy hat as I had out grown my old one,  so my head was dry. But to my dismay the horse I was riding threw a shoe and I had to walk her most of the way down. My hat’s form was ruined by the rain, but I still have the horse shoe.

Keep Creating

Carol

Childhood Memories, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Feathers, Mom VI, Old and New - Purple and Blue, Tee Shirt Quilts, Uncategorized, Wool Rounds

Busy Week

2 Comments

Hello
I have enjoyed a very active week. Last Friday I went to a silk painting workshop in Rochester with lots of creative gals. Liz did a great piece with flowers.

 

Joyce worked from a photo from her yard.

 

 

 

 

Regina explored a drawing.
I worked from the sketch I had drawn last week.

 

 

 

 

 

Karen did a great job from one of her photos of grapes.

 

 

 

 

 

The class was great and I learned a lot. I will add thread painting and quilting to finish this up in the next week or so.

 

The Michelle the teacher from Australia, did a wonderful trunk show at the end of the day.   This is her use of the techniques she was teaching us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then on Sunday I went off to Moravia and visited with Susan and Sally. We talked of may things and I got some great feed back on this piece- Old and New.

 

 

 

Tues I picked up Patti and the two of us drove north to Mill Sight Lake and Judy’s Camp for three days. Judy shared this colorful quilt that   Judy made and a Amish gal had quilted for her.

 

 

Patti and I worked with our machines while Nancy and Judy went out on the lake and platted around the island. We had a good time and made a few plans for the fall.

 

 

And just to let you know I make mistakes too.  I was not paying full attention while I was  working on my scarp  quilt and  I accidentally  ran the sewing machine into my finger nail.     I only caught the tip on my nail and a bit of skin.   So  please  be careful!

Progress Report: Tee Shirt Quilt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have now finished the assembly of the top of this work.  I have pulled flannel to make some base blocks that I will surround in the log cabin style for the back.

Feathers  I am half way done adding the feathers to this quilt.  I plan to do reflective quilting around the outside.

Wool Rounds     

I just keep building on these wool units.   It is calming work.

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap  I worked on these at Mill Site.  I am pleased to say I only have one more box of scraps to work from.  Over the weekend I finished up nine more units.

 

 

 

 

Memories of Mom

I did a little hand work on this piece this week that is made from  things that Mom had in her home.

Sketching   I just keep my fingers in the drawing game by doing a new one every now and then

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories – Lessons
The summer I was ten and Dad was a temporary Ranger in Tetons was a great one for me.  We went to many ranger talks and sat on logs looking at the lake with the mountains beyond  and learning fun facts while the sky darkened and the stars came out. Because all rangers need to be able to rescue hikers from the mountains Dad  learned to repel.  He took us along for his practice with a second ranger named  Jim. Gene and I also got to take a hand a repelling and I loved it. It was great fun to jump away from the vertical rock face and sour down with the rope to help one land safely back on land.
We rode across Jackson Lake to the undeveloped side and bushwhacked up the mountain one day. Saw a heard of wild goats and got lots of scratches on that adventure. Dad also taught us that if we ever got lost in the wilderness to do two things. Always go down hill and when you find water follow it down too. It will always lead you to civilization eventually and you will have a vital life saving source close at hand. I am glad to say I have never had to apply that knowledge. At the end of the summer there was a range’s picnic. Gene and I were the only kids. Lots of great food. The only things to drink were water and beer. So I thought I would try the beer. Just as I opened the can Dad came around the cabin. He was not happy with me. But he insisted that sense I had opened the can that I drink the whole thing. Then I promptly emptied my stomach on the grass. I was never tempted as a teen- and even later I never learned to drink beer. The lesson was learned.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

PS this is a shot of the sun set over the St Lawrence River.

 

Childhood Memories, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Tee Shirt Quilts, Topographical, Wool Rounds

New Experiences

Hello
This week has been a busy one for me. Saturday was a Finger Lakes Fiber Artists Play day at the Schweinfurth. There was a lot going on. Cheri painted. Barb, Parilla, Marcia, and Joyce did starch resist work. Maureen did a little mini workshop on indigo printing and Eco-dying.  This shot is of the Eco-Printing that Maureen did before hand.   

 

This  is what my Eco Printing looks like as one needs to let the plant dyes  seep into the paper and fabric in the cold printing style we used.  Keep it moist for a month Maureen said, before you unwrap it.   Stay tuned.

The Indigo  printing was more direct,  and is finished like  other dyeing processes.

It was fun and enjoyable as well as a learning experience for me.

 

I did wash out some fabric that Liz and I had done on a print day earlier in the summer while I was at it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday the FAD group meant at my home. Sharon has finished another of her commissions works and they continue to be better and better.

 

 

 

Progress Report: Feathers This work is at the quilting stage now.  The feather on the right is all quilted the one on the left is only started.    I have learned that it take me a little more than an hour to do each feather so I will be at this project for a few weeks.

Tee Shirt work

I am quiet pleased with the progress on this project. Three of the four columns are done now. The top will soon be done and I can move onto the back construction.

 

 

Topographical I continue to hand couch down the yarn to show movement in this work.

 

 

 

 

 

Wool Rounds

I keep working to finish up each circle.  The are a limited number of stitches I can think of to do in a circular  fashion.

 

 

 

 

Class Preparations I am taking a class in silk painting tomorrow and in preparation for that class I have drawn the image I hope to use in colored pencil and black and white.

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories: Colter Bay Camping  Grounds
The year I was 10, Dad was again a summer Park Range. This time it was in  Tetons National Park. He and two other men ran the camp ground at Colter Bay on Jackson Lake. We were housed in a white army surplus tent with a   wooden frame, wooden floor,  door,  screen door, and potbelly stove. It was 18 feet square. Gene and I had bunk beds in one corner and Mom and Dad had a double in the opposite one. There was one chest of drawers with four drawers,  and a table with  four chairs. Suit cases were stored under the bunk beds and the wood box was at the foot. There was electricity, but we had to carry in the water. Next to the stove, there was a small unit for food prep and dishes as well as supplies. I do remember that Mom baked a birthday cake in the electric skillet she brought for Pete Nickel’s Birthday. ( He was one of the other rangers  in  another   tent on sight.) The bathroom was in the campground and it was always a brisk walk/run to visit it in the mornings. To bathe we went to the Snake River near a hot spring twice a week. It was a great summer with lots of hikes, going to campfire lectures, and traveling.  Mom and I even made little pillows and stuff them with pine needles. They smelled wonderful  for years after that. As it got closer to Labor Day and our return home, it got colder and colder especially at night. Two nights before the close of the campground and our drive home, when the lights were out, I heard mice in the wood box. I though I felt one run across my legs and when I mentioned it -Dad pooh-poohed that and said go to sleep.   Then just as I was dozing off one ran across my face. I screamed. Dad was not sympathetic and said I was imagining things.   Some how I did fall asleep. But the last night I refused to sleep in the bottom bunk- and insisted on sleeping at the opposite end of Gene’s bunk on the top. In the morning I was vindicated by little mouse dropping all over the bed spread. When we got home to Carroll two days later my own bed seemed huge and very secure.

Hope you enjoy your childhood memories as much as I do mine.

 

Keep Creating

Carol

PS

The post next week will be done on Friday because the FAD group is going up to Judy’s camp from Tue to Thur.

Childhood Memories, Falcon, Hand work, Landscapes, Tee Shirt Quilts, Wool Rounds

Summer Calm

Hello,
The squirrels in upstate New York are in full harvest mode. It has been a bumper year for acorns as we have had lots of rain. Our new driveway  is covered with their discards. This week has been a quiet one and I have enjoyed lots of time in the studio.

Progress Report: Falcon This work is 23″ w X 40.5″ l. I started this in the Rock On class at QBL. It too needed a center of interest so I drew on the new techniques I learned in Betty Busby’s class and produced the falcon. The use of Intense pencils to do the  shading really is wonderful.

 

 

 

I made the branch out of yarn, nylon net and fabric scraps. Then did a thick layer of free motion stitching on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wool Rounds This is my new handwork project. I have not done any planning as to how I will use these or how many there will be. I am just enjoying the doing at this point.

 

Tee Shirt 2 It has finally been long enough that I feel I could tackle this second tee shirt quilt. It took three hours to fuse the inner facing to the back of the tees so they would not stretch when I stitched them to the cottons. The assembly strips are cut and the small ones are sewn together. I will be laying it out and putting it together next week.

Topographical I started this quilt in the Rock On class too. I am couching down the yarn at this point.

 

 

Mountain This is a work that grew out of the scraps from the Rock On class too. I had created the clouds at the play day where I was teaching silk paper and I wanted to use then. It needs a focus.

 

 

 

Feathers      I fused down the cut feathers from Betty Busby’s class 

and assembled this top this week.    It is layered and pinned now so I will begin tho quilt this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories- Heart Lake
The summer Dad was a Forest Ranger in Yellowstone we did a lot of exploration of the park. We quickly discovered that we had not brought along enough warm clothing so the first time we went to West Thumb(   a shop area that no longer exists in the park) we all got new coats. Mine was a red polished cotton. I was proud. One day we did a hike to Heart Lake. It was eight miles into the lake mostly down hill. I was looking for rocks along the way and discovered a piece of flint about the size of a soft ball in a stream bed we crossed. I picked it and carried it for a while then put it in the pocket of the new coat. It was heavy so when we came across a  tall  tree stump that was along the trail I reasoned that I would put the rock there and retrieve it on the way home. The day warmed and we soon shed our coats.   Dad put them in the back pack. We arrived at the beautiful quiet lake. Ate the lunch Mom had packed and Dad started fishing. Gene and I play in the shallow water of the lake building rock towers and throwing rocks.    Dad caught one 12 “ Cut Throat Trout. Gene and I unintendedly caught leaches on our ankles. Time to go eight miles back out up out of the valley to the car and home. It was a long and difficult walk for the end of an active day. I remember Dad holding the handle of the fishing poll and my brother holding onto the poll to keep up the pace. When we got home to the trailer it was dark and we were all famished. The trout was soon sizzling in the pan and we had a great feast. Unpacking the back pack I remembered that I had forgotten to pick up the flint- and when I saw how the pocket of my new jacked was shredded by its sharp edges,  I was sure Mom would be angry with me. I don’t remember if she said anything- but I do remember every time I put hand in the pocket I recalled my foolishness.

Keep Creating

Carol

The Bachelor Buttons are in full bloom around here now.

3X3, Childhood Memories, Hand Bags, Icarus, Tee Shirt Quilts

Moving Along

Hello,
I saw this toad on my walk this week. He is difficult to see. Looked for him in the same area every day sense, but no luck.   I am just glad to know he is in our world.
The Associated Artists had their opening for the Flight show.   This wing is Liz’s entry.   There was a woman who was 102 how came along with one of the other artist. It was fascinating talking with her. Openings can open one to new ideas and this one was especially simulating.

This is Barbara’s entry.  The top one sold that day too.

 

 

 

 

 

Liz took this shot of me  and my piece there.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Tee Shirt Quilt
This quilt in nearing the completions stage now. The back is complete and I am in the middle of the quilting.

 

 

 

Purple Squares-Nine patches I did a lot of work on this project this week. The some of the older blue blocks have been combined with the newly completed purple ones to create these four nine patch units.

 

I plan to make a second entry for the 3X3 show if I can get them done in time.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Bag I made a new more colorful spring bag this week.

 

 

 

 

Scarp Assembly This process just keeps inching forward. I have been putting in about an hour every day stripping together fabric strips.

 

 

Preparations I am preparing to depart for QSDS on Sunday. I did two more drawings from the car was photos.   I think they will be a good jumping off place for me.

It also means that I have limited my color pallet and that means a concentrated box of fabric for me. I decided yesterday that I need a little security too, so I pin based a base for a new wild fire piece. I have a clear idea of what I want to do on it  so when I feel too frustrated with the car was project I can work on a piece with more potential for success.

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memoirs- Belief
As a child I had a great imagination. I really could believe in the stories that were read to me and fairies, witches, trolls and pixies were just out of sight. One summer day I spent with my Aunt May. I spent a frustrating morning trying to learn how to jump rope.   At lunch she talked to me about believing one could and would accomplish things with time and belief. “I belief you will learn how to jump rope”, she told me. After lunch she read a story about Aladdin and the flying carpet before I was to take a nap. I was fascinated by the idea and could not get to sleep for thinking about it. In my childhood mind, one didn’t need the carpet-just belief. So I climbed out the window over the poach and walked to the edge. I folded my arms, step off and folded my legs and proceeded to “Fly” down into the snowball bush. Aunt May say me “Fly” past as she was setting on the front poach  and screamed as I passed by. Needless to say the snowball bush was never the same. My only injuries were a few scratches.  Mom could not believe I had not broken anything – the power of belief saved me. I did conquer the jump rope later that afternoon too.
I am off to Quilt Surface Design Symposium on Sunday and will not return until June 3, so there will be no posting next week.
Keep Creating
Carol

3X3, Childhood Memories, Creative Assistants, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Icarus, Shows, Tee Shirt Quilts

Show Work Week

Hello,

The Blood root is from my garden. Spring keeps pushing forward. Thank goodness!

 

 

This week has been a busy one. Sat. Liz and I went to Varna for a play day. I taught folks how to make a boiled book. We had mixed results as the leaves are still too soft to get really strong images. But we did have fun with it. Liz made progress on her applique circles. I think this will be a great quilt when it is finished.

 

These books and tags are the work of Donna.

 

 

I have put in a lot of time making labels  doing artists statements and making sure I have all the necessary items to hang and present a good shows.   Yesterday with the help of Angela and Julia,  we hung the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist show at May Memorial at 3800 Gennesee St here in Syracuse.     The quilt  by Sharon is a part of the show.   The works  looks good against these dark walls.

It was great to have the help and the process took less then two hours. I forgot to print out our into statements so I made a stop there today to post that addition. The show will be up until Wed May 29 and is open most days from 9 until 4:30.
Today  with Beth’s help we hung a show at the Life Force Center.   This quilt is called Tucson’s and is one of 32  of my works  in this show.  It  will hang  from now until the middle of June.    Beth was very helpful and it took about two hours to hang this show too.  Building  and hanging shows is a part of being an artist,  but  I   look forward to doing my own creative work for  a while now.

Progress Report: Circular Thinking- 3 X 3 This work is 51″w X 51″l and it  is my response to the Sisterhood of the Scissors challenge 3 X 3 . It was a bear to assemble. I see now that I really need to take a second look at the one side and perhaps re do the facing there. When one is working on a piece as big as this it is hard to see the total until the end.
I am glad I did all the stitching, even thought there seems to be as much embroidery thread in my stash as when I started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Icarus I am finishing up the machine drawing on this work now. Even though I fused the fabric to batting before I did that step it sure got distorted.    Lots and lots of heave pressing has flattened out most of that however.   Again I need to live with this a while to see where to go from this point.

 

 

Creative Assistants I finished another batch of these little fellows this week. There are 23 this time. When I was cleaning I discovered under my chair, one more that needed the last three steps to finish it off . Guess that means I have a starter for the next group.

 

 

Tee Shirt Quilt I have make little progress on this work this week, but it is moving forward.

 

 

 

 

 

Sketchbook Revisited Class   Along with many others am doing a online free class for the last week and a half.  It is a great way to stretch and explore.      This lesson was by Anne Butera.   The emphasis on studying the subject, but not getting too hung up on the details.  Looking  at color and using a big brush captures it all quickly.  I  am enjoying myself even though I am behind a few lessons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Memories -Crack the Whip    One year at Thanksgiving time we had a real cold snap for about 4 days and there was no snow. We all went to the cabin that Grandfather Howard had built on the slew.( It is a back water of the Iowa River- created when the river changed its course and left old Chanel still full of water) The ice was thick and flat. One could skate in a strait line for as long as one wanted to if you went up the slew. All the cousins who had ice skates spent a wonderful afternoon skating.   Being one of the older kids I had done the “hand me down” thing with several pairs of skates.    Uncle Paul pulled us in a laugh filled game of Crack the Whip. Gene, Danny, Russell, Tracy and Doug were there I am sure.  My memory is a little fuzzy about who else was there.  When we  got cold  and tired we went up to the cabin and had hot coco and popcorn from the popcorn machine around the stone fireplace that grandfather had built.   It was a great day!

Keep Creating

Carol

Daily's, Diva Meetings, Golden Path, Maya's Tee Shirt quilt, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Tee Shirt Quilts

Snow February 6, 2014

SnowtreeHello,

It is a snowed like crazy yesterday and  I just could not stay in doors.   I had a good time waking in the deep snow.Fireplug  The going was slow as there was about 10 inches of new snow on the ground and it was falling very thick and fast.  I walked a block from home and looked back- I could not see the house.   I did enjoy the way the fire plug  and several small pine trees seemed to be wearing pointed snow hats.  I helped push a gal out of her driveway and the snow plow did pass by before I got home form my  short  walk. Sally's work   It is getting difficult to find joy in this long winter.  But I console myself by remembering that this too will pass.   The QuEGs group meant on Tuesday.  There were only four of us but it was still a good time.    Sally is doing some amazing stuff with her embroidery machine.  She programed and stitched all of these  bags herself.  She said she wanted to test thread and needles.     There was also a Diva meeting on Tuesday evening and again it wasCheri very stimulating.   There is so much variety going on in the group it is hard to keep up.   Cheri is exploring painting on canvas and really starting to make it her own thing now I think.  She not only adds hand dyed fabric on top in a collage like process she is also doing lots of hand stitching on top too.  Lori's-new-work

Lori is doing a wonderful job mixing machine work with hand embroidery on silk.   This piece will be a real WOW when it is done.    There are two folks exploring book making processes at the moment.  Liese  is working on a book with individual hand made fabric pages- she is not sure how it will go together at BF6Liesea's-booksthis  point.   Several pages are sun prints. One is marbaleized, and some are collaged.   It is an engineering problem now.   The other book worker is Alice.   She is using an accordion book format for her works.  One book is titled “We Love the Sky”  and sun rise to moon rise are represented in Alice's-book1her book as one continuing diorama .   This image is of rain and storm followed by the rainbow.    Her second work is  titled ” We Love the Woods” and it too is in the diorama layout. ALices's woods  I love how she mixes her painted parts with commercal  fabrics and images.   I find her trees BF6Sandy'sreally strong.    Sandy is busy doing wonderful hooking projects.  She has two works that are both landscapes that work as a set or stand alone.   Her mix of sliced wool and yarn do wonderful things  together is powerful.    The work in small but this style works for her busy life at the moment.    Anne went to a work shop in Vermont withAnnie's1 Cynthia Corbin  called  Emerging Styles.   She came home with a wonderful pile of great started projects.    She discovered how Annies's-lightimportant light is to her way of creating and that has pushed her into a new direction.  I can hardly wait to see how this develops.    Noel likes to use silk in Noel's-workher work and although this is an older piece it shows her wonderful handling of this some what difficult material.  She does not fuse the silk to any thing either and that allows her to distort the material in the manner this shows.   Ruth is still working away on her African symbols project.  Ruth's-work    She is ready to begin quilting on this work now.  I think it is very strong graphically.   Needless to say I am all excited  by all these wonderful works and ready to charge forward.    I am so very fortuniate to belong to two powerful groups of creative folks.

Golden Path 29" X 30" $ 305.00
Golden Path
29″ X 30″
$ 305.00

Progress Report: Golden Path   This quilt really seemed to come together without much in put by me.  I had all the stripped sections left over from another project and they were in the bottom of a box.  When I came across the red, gold, and blue fabric last week it just seemed to pull the other fabrics with it.   The big gold and white chunks of fabric are from the printing day I did a few weeks ago. BF6GoldenPathCl1    I looked at the surface of this quilt a long time before I started quilting it.  I decided to emphasize the square shapes in the center using a Greek Key pattern.  I started quilting in the center making first one key and then another connected to the first using variegated yellow thread.     GoldenPath close up 2I then stared outside the second squared area and built a second set of units.    I continued to build until I had about a dozen keys and by then I had worked for an hour on the project.  So I stopped.  Before I began work the next day I looked critically at the work.  It needed a bit of punch so I added a row of gold thread in an outline pattern all the way around all the created units.Goldenpathcl3  Thus the name – Golden Path- as it just leads one around the center units.  I then  switched back to the yellow and repeated the same procedure as the day before.  I then added as second out line of gold and retuned to the yellow keys to the out side of the quilt.   I am pleased with the results.

BF6Rounding-up-GreenRounding Up Green   I am quilting away on this quilt now.  I am using the same idea as I applied to  Golden Path only I am using spirals.  I create one and then from it I spiral out and create a smaller one next to  the first and keep building the pattern out from the center of the work.  I will not add a row of gold thread however.  It is working without that addition.

Maya’s Tee Shirt Quilt Maya's Tee shirt   I continue to work away on Maya’s quilt.  I now have three rows completed.  It is getting bit difficult  to handle on the pin wall.   I still have two rows to construct and then it will be time to start a back.   

ScrapHappyScarp Happy   I have been working on putting together scraps for about a mouth now.  I decided to give myself a break for that and build a top out of the work.   I cut the pieces into long 2.5″ widths and then added those pieces to 4.5″ centers.    There are blocks with an Egyptian print center and blocks with a red print center .  I am now ready to start creating rows for the top of this quilt.

newworkNew work-purple and  pink      I think the cold and whiteness of the weather is effecting my  leaning toward spring colors at the moment.   This one is just starting to come together.  I am going to  try to work in the 18″ X 24 ” format again.  This is my first return to that format.

 New work spring BF6audition

I pulled out the fabric for this project yesterday during the storm in the morning.  Again I think this is my attempt to think about spring instead of the cold all around me.

new workNew work Foundations IX

This is a close up of the new work on the next Foundations piece.  It too will be on a smaller format.  All the green thread is unraveled silk thread from a woven section of fabric.   The solid green and blue are silk papers.

Daily'sDaily’s   I do my Daily’s when I watch the news in the evening.  I have been following that practice for a while now and my attitude about the news is much more mellow.

Keep Creating

Carol

Charlotte's Shadow III, Daily's, Foundations VII Fragments, Maya's Tee Shirt quilt, Shaving Cream Printing, Tee Shirt Quilts

January 23, 2014

1 Comment

Hello,

It is cold here in the north east and that has kept me indoors more than normal.  I really enjoy  the ice crystals on the storm door and I tried to take a photo- but they are not at all satisfactory.  So I will use the old fashion method  and just keep the selected sections of the patterns in my memory.  Staying inside means I worked a lot in the studio however.

Charlotte's Shadow III 19 " X 30" NFS
Charlotte’s Shadow III
19 ” X 30″
NFS

Progress Report: Charlotte’s Shadow III   This is the last of the quilts made with Charlotte’s fabrics.  I even used her stuff on the backs.  These quilts are not for sale as I intend to give them as gifts to the three gals who were her sweet mates at Quilting By the Lake for many years.   I feel I got better and better at doing free motion flowers by the time I reached this third piece too.  One does hope that is what happens at any rate.    I did start out copying the printed image and then progressed to creating my own flowers and leaves to fill the rest of the quilt. Charlottes-Shadow-Close up 2      I did take creative linces and created some of my own flowers near the end too- mostly due to the space limitations and I did not want to compete with the images too much.     I also did lots of swirl and free curves in the quilting to cross over areas and pull things together.Charlotte's-ShadowClose up 1  The whole process was pleasant and I enjoyed myself.  Charlottes Shadow Cl 2

 

 

III Foundations VII- Fragments

Foundations VII-Fragments 38" X 40" $535.00
Foundations VII-Fragments
38″ X 40″
$535.00

 

I am happy with how this quilt looks.  The full shot does not show how it flows for me but the color patterns are very visable.  This quilt has yarn, silk paper, organza and nylon netting on the top of a base built with cottons, parts of a wool jacket, a section of one of my husbands shirts and some very old taffeta.  I really enjoyed mixing all these fabrics FoundationsVIIcl1to get the colors and textures I was seeking with this piece.   The back has been dry brush painted to seal the threads created by all the free motion work.   I did the free motions work with nylon threads and cotton ones to get the colors I wanted in this area too. Foundations VII close up 3              The more I practice sewing with the free motion the easier it becomes.  I am espically happy with the ability I am building sewing down the yarn without trapping it under organza first.  It means that I must move very slowly- but it is worth the effort.

Fractured-close up 4

I also did some used some colored pencils in different areas of this top to add more texture and detail to some sections.  There is a little paint on the surface too.  This new direction makes me  I feel like  I can employ any tool to create the texture and colors I want with these work.  Very Freeing!

 

Tee-shirt-quiltMaya’s Tee Shirt Quilt   I am starting to build the units for this quilt.  Yellow – for Yellow Jackets- is the main color.  I have various patterns and shades.  Then for interest I have inserted narrow bits of black patterned fabric at random locations.    The process is very slow- but I think it will be worth the effort.

Stencils2Stenciling with Shaving Cream     I spent a few hours on Monday afternoon using my stencils to create some new images on fabric.  I created these and several other screens  in October.  I like to do the printing of them in the winter when things slow down a bit at this time of year.  I am espically pleased with the white print on the dark fabric  of these thisel inspired images.  I mix ink with shaving cream and push the mixture through the thermo fax with a credit card.    I  like the slender lines of branches in the gold on the white fabric on the left too. Stencel work-Close up That image is older- but I always find it very useful in my stash.  I will print a second color on top of some of the images in a day or two.

 

New-workNew Work  I decided to do another collage quilt.   I started out with a drawing based on a photo of fungus growing on a rock wall.  Then  is the source of the colors.  I also decided to work smaller this time and the work is only 18″ X 24″.  The fabric is somewhat pinned to the  burckrum and I will start free motion work to tack it down tomorrow.  The   fungus will be added  at a later date.

  Daily’s Daily's    I was surprised to realize that I was at the end of my fifth mouth of creating Daily’s.  Well perhaps it is more accurate to say my fifth set of thirty blocks.  I finished the last red circle with a black L last eve and the next series is a half red circle and two black strips.  New challenges await me.   

Keep Creating

Carol