Hello-
There will be no post this week as I will be away Thur and Friday.
Keep Creating
Carol
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Rust Dyeing tutorial
Lovely color and unique fabric can be created with rust dyeing. If you want control then this is not the process for you. One never knows what one will get.
Materials:
Clean prewashed fabric. ( this example is done on white- but color can be used if it is light)
Metal- tin objects like the ones pictured- but old drill bits, tools iron shapes etc.. ( I did the work in an old cookie sheet that was rusted and it added to the effect.
Vinegar / water solution of 50 /50.
Spray bottle, and gloves.
It is best to do this on a warm day- but one can put the work in a black plastic bag and get good results. The heat seems to help.
You can simply lay your objects on the fabric and pour the vinegar and water solution on top or you can wrap and tie the fabric around the rust to get the transfer. I like to lay things of top of the bundle too.
Then you spritz the fabric with your solution and put it in the bag if you wish or if it is warm one can just walk away for 24 hours. I usually check and respitz later in the day .
This is how my fabric looked in the morning before I started rinsing. The old tools and bike chain still on top.
Then rinse fabric in a water and salt solution. This is a lite solution of salt. Next rinse in water. The soapy water. Then in clear water again. These are my buckets lined up.
Then hang your cleaned fabric to dry.
Have fun.
Susan had good regulates placing a piece of glass or plexi glass on the table. Then placing thin cut shapes between two sheets of fabric spritzing then with vinegar and water. Followed by a second piece glass or plexi glass on top. Again wait 24 hours .
The top fabric was the most successful. Look at the image at the top on the line. You can see the butterfly clearly on the bottom row here. It is as the bottom of the line piece too.
Numbers
Hello,
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.
Progress 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 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 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 
I 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 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.
Circle 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 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.
Scrap 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 
As 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
Holiday
Hello-
I am thankful for this wonderful day when we all take a few min. to thinks on all the wonders in our lives. I hope your day is filled with joy and happiness.
I will post tomorrow.
Hugs
Carol
Spring get away
Hello,
Before I left for Florida I was a part of a second show at Turquoise Street Studio on the week end. I even sold a piece and I am thrilled by that. Barbara is so kind to share her studio with us and help us all benefit from that experience.
The photos tells the story of how I started many of my days when I visited Susan and Carolyn in Florida. The sun rises were wonderful. The light was truly “golden” as Barbara says. 
A big reason for my trip was to see their show. I went through the door and was stopped short by the visual impact. There was so very much to see I could not get myself started. I think I 
was fortunate to have seem some of the work before or I think I could have been truly overwhelmed. In trying to decide my favorite I was struck by the variety and the powerful use of color. I really like this altered Barbie that has become a god. Carolyn’s Swing Clocks with the moving feet made me smile too.
This picture is only two of seven different variations that were presented. Some works were small and intimate and others were bigger than life size like this red dress. 
I liked Susan’s piece that was based on Little Red Riding Hood too because it had so many parts 
that were all fascinating all by them selves and also worked together. It was a full and delightful experience for me. 
We went to the building next to the gallery and saw a second exhibit of the works of the collage faculty and staff. I was taken by this wonderful small weaving. Susan told my it was by the director of the gallery were their work was on display.
Susan and I worked in the studio every day too. This shot is of Susan painting on Tyveck for her project for the Diva 15 Show. 
We worked with wood and fabric as well and had a lot of fun. We went for a morning at the beach as our way of celebrating Easter. The day was a perfect one for our ramble with a clear blue sky, white sands, crisp ocean smells and a cool breeze.
I found so many fascinating patterns and textures that I took over 75 pictures. But I decided that this shot of Cyprus stumps is my favorite. They almost look like they could walk the shore them selves. I had a great visit.
Progress Report: Watakoo Wall This is another in my stretch works. I am getting better at trimming back the corners enough that they lay flat now. It seems I learn a new trick with every one of these projects. 
I put lots of fabric bits on the surface as I build up the effect I am after. This one even has some “plastic twist” on it to give it a bit of a punch.
It has silk paper as a part of the texture and color as well.
Second Wall 
This work is a partner to Watakoo Wall. Both are from the same photo, but a very different part of the rock face. This is a very early stage and I am sure it will grow and change as I work on the surface. It seems to cry out for some light at the moment.
Out My Windows I am to the fun stage of the work on this piece. I am doing the free motion drawing part and I always enjoy that step. I did all the dark purple squares yesterday afternoon.
They are all night views across the roof tops showing the bare trees.
Green Grass of Spring This work is another of the pieces that is based on a collage. It grew and changed a lot as I enlarged it from the 5”X7” card I did the collage on. I did try to keep the tones of light medium and dark in the same areas however. I have it layered together and it is ready for the quilting. I am just looking and thinking about that step at the moment as I have no real clear idea of how I want to do that.
Memory Maps:Columbus Junction 
I started this work after talking with Susan before I went off to Florida. She mentioned how much she liked one of the other Memory Map works and I realized that I had not done all the pieces I wanted to do in that series. So after checking my list of possible subjects I selected Columbus Junction the home that I lived in from Kindergarten to the end of third grade. 
Then I did a list of possible subjects and began some drawings. I built my base and then started working on top. This shot is of the map section with our house being the square with the blue roof. This shot is of the upper right hand corner of the work.
Ethel’s Trees 
I inherited lots of Ethel’s unfinished work and this is one. I am sure I will not not put my stamp on all of her pieces, but using it as a starting point is a good challenge for me. This started out as only the brown tree painted on the white cloth. I added the gray painted “wonder under” to build up the land and then found this second Ethel cut tree yesterday. I need to live with this work to know were to go from here. The gray tree is not stitched down so it may move before I fuse it down.
Label Block # 45 I worked on this as I waited for the connections flying back and forth. I did not want to get behind while I was away and the activity does not require a lot of attention and its small so it travels well. Susan gave me a new batch of labels so I have more to work with.
I am going off to Chicago to the Quilt Festival and a visit with my Friend Sharron Evens on Wed next week so there will be no posting for April 7. It will be another double shot when I get back.
Keep Creating,
Carol
Marks
Hello,
It has taken me a while to decide on my word of focus for this year and I have considered many and tossed several away. But yesterday I decided that the word would be MARKS. I make marks f all sorts as do all humans. Think of the margins of note books in high school. Perhaps that is disappearing as kids spend more time on the computers , IPhones and pads, but I doubt it will ever disappear totally. Animals leave marks of there passing in the mud , snow and dirt. As do machines. Like skid marks that many of us created with our bikes. As an artist it will be a focus that I feel I need to pursue.
I sure seem to have a lot on my plate as we move into February. I did finish the Upstate Cancer Mask and returned it to the hospital before the dead line. I chose to treat the whole thing as a big
three dimensional needle point project. I can hardly wait to see how others treated this challenge.
This week being the first one of the month meant that both QuIG’s and Diva’s had meetings. The turn 
out for QuIG’s was small but full of exciting projects. Sally is all ready for Valentine’s day with some wonderful cards for her grandkids. She also created some wonderful heart shaped book marks and bird candy holders. 
Liz had just finished a on line class and she enjoyed doing personal historic explorations as well as learning some new techniques.
The Diva gals were busy too. Regina is building on her doodles and adding color and bead work to them. Noel is doing old fashion Paining work with her wonderful silk kimono fabrics.
I can hardly wait to see how this develops.
Lori and Kirsten both too a class at the Schweinfurt with Victoria Finley Wolf last month and did strong works with very different feels. 
It is the wonder of the old patterns, that different fabrics, prints, colors and sets can make such different solutions.
I am getting ready for the “heART” sale at the Turquoise Street studio next week on Friday and Saturday with more images. Please feel free to come between 11 and 8 both days. The studio is through and behind Eureka Crafts in downtown Syracuse NY.
Progress Report: Parts
I am still adding parts to the surface of this work. I can see the bottom of the box that I collected all the little bits in, so I will need to add more hand work as I go forward.
Coastal Color III
I am ready to start building on this third felted base. I am trying to avoid the warp by adding a felted back unit to the work for this stage.
New Work I made a bunch of collages this week and I selected this one to be the beginning of a new work.
I have pinned up these fabrics and I think they will be the start. I do not know what color I will make the contrast pieces. 
New Work I pulled out this big piece of print fabric and I feel ready to build on top of and add to it. A lot of the base work is already done for me I think.
Blown Blossoms This piece got a lot of attention this week and I am nearly ready to add the facings and finish it up. It is a small so it too went together quickly.
6X6 I was at a bit of a loose end this week so I started my entries for the Rochester 6X6 show. I decided to do little paper quilts this year as I had not done any work in this style for a while. I really like working this small as they come together very quickly. Two done and two to go. 
Label Block #38 
I just keep stitching away on these.
Keep Creating
Carol
Paying Attention
Hello-
I was trying to pay attention to lines and I noticed this rather gray bit of pavement. It is almost a landscape in its self. All the horizontal lines suggest it could become one without too much effort. What I was really 
trying to notice on my walk that day was how the leaves pilled up around the tree trunks. Sometimes they are deep and the tree seems to lean a lot. Sometimes the leaves and earth round the base of the tree pile high and other times it seems to fall 
away. Then I came across this tree on the side of a hill and found many of the roots exposed. I was doing all this visual research for my next quilt project using leaves as the first took on a life of its own and I could not use the silk leaves I had created.
I went up to see Sharon’s senior show in Oswego this week. Lots of good work there. 
She explored lots of different areas in her college work. Sharon will start work on her master’s degree next month.
Because of the way Nancy works I made a run to her house today to talk about the lay out of her boarders on her next project. She really did not need me as she had done the work- but it was fun to talk about what she is doing. I enjoy how she mixes and uses fabrics that I would never pick out to use myself.
Progress Report: Grounded
This quilt has been fun to work on. I really enjoyed the free motion work. Out lining all the printed leaves was a learning experience. There were so many veins.
The paint I used was transparent so the leaves showed through one another. That made the image seem deeper I think. I the background is made from Judy Roberts hand dyed fabric( the brown) and Randy’s deconstructed screen printed fabric( the yellow) The irregular surfaces of both fabrics added interest too. I am showing one shot of the back of the quilt to show the machine work with out the color distraction.
Hand Bag I also though I needed a new hand bag for the season so I pulled out this piece of Regina fabric and made myself a one. Its dark and will not show spots I don’t think. My only regret is that I did not put a pocket on the outside of this piece and I do miss that.
Williams Quilt I am building the blocks for William’s Quilt. It will be colorful when it is complete. I will lay it all out on the floor this week to see how the parts work together.
New Work These fabrics are my loose layout for the next leaf quilt. I will try to mix the two images from the top of this blog into one image that I can work with. I will also be on the look out to keep the leaves around the base of this tree a little simpler so I can use the silk leaves that got me started on this leave thing from the first place.
New Rock Work This is the very beginning of my next rock piece. I am working from the same photo graphic that was taken of Dead Horse Canyon wall. This is about a 4″ X 6″ section of the photo. Lots more build up is yet to come here as even what it pictured is only pinned in place.
Label Block This is block # 30. So now I am one fourth finished with the creation of the blocks for his project.
Keep Creating
Carol
Thanksgiving
Hello,
I am thankful for my family and friends, my health and my chances to create.
Hugs to all
Carol
Leaf Dance
Hello,
As this photos shows the crows are populating the trees now. A few trees still have leaves and watching them fall is still something I do was I walk. The wind is the biggest factor in that process and over the course of a week I see all types of winds resulting in sorts of fall patterns. Some leaves zip and race away from there high homes to the ground. While others flutter, twirl and drift down. The wind can effect the leaves on the ground too. Some tumble across my path and others skitter, bounce and jump, while there fellows cart wheel or roll away to be caught in hedges or cluster at the base of trees . Some times they stack against walls or sail across pools. Until we get a rain the dance will fill my walks.
For three days this week I was a part of the Open Studio work at the Schweinfurt Art Center.
There were six of us in the wet studio. Cris and Liz were at the tables near me. Liz 
and I learned a lot as we had never mixed dyes for our own use before. The really fortunate thing was two very experienced dyers were also in the wet studio, so we had great 
brains to pick. Pat the woman who I had as class instructor was there doing her own thing. And Maureen was also there dyeing. She was making yardage. 
My buddy, Barbara was also in the wet studio dye painting silk scarves. She only got three done – but considering she had never 
done this before I am proud of her. I am also in love with the rich colors she achieved. This is my wall of work for the first day. 
Barbara, Liz and I really got the bug and will all do more on our own.
Folks were working in the sewing studio up stairs in the Schweinfurth too. Donna came down and showed us her newest paper piecing project. Looks like new garland for her tree this year. They were all working just as hard up stairs as we were in the basement. It was great fun. There was also a trunk show by my good friend Ruth at the Schweinfurth this week end. I saw some of her work I had never seen before. It was great.
Liz and I spent Thursday making more dye colors to use. We worked in her garage and mixed up six more colors to play with. 
I have fabric setting in buckets of water in my shower washing out the dye now. Good thing I vowed I would make a piece using some hand dyed fabric I had altered every 
month, and even that many not be enough to use all of this great stuff up. Even Liz looked at all the wonderful dye Ethel gave me and said “ you will go a lift time and not need to purchase any more dye.” This is some of the new fabric that I altered.
Progress Report: Taffy Pull
44″ X 29″
After the quilt meetings last week I did a little rework of this piece. I 
also changed it’s orientation. Maureen suggested I pull some of the colors out into other areas and I like what happened when I added the 
thread work to the surface. I also intensified the blue lines. It is a stronger piece for the additions.
Butterflies for Ethel I am so very happy about this piece. It is the third and last in this series of Butterfly pieces. I used only fabric 
from Ethel’s stash that her children so generously gave to me. The title is part of my tribute. The butterflies are form the ground cloth as before. I also added several machine drawn butterflies to represent Ethel’s being gone from my life but still strong in my memories. No one can see memories- but they are still a strong part of me. 
16″ X 30″
Breaking Up This quilt got started at QBL last summer. I was working on the thin line thing. 
I am feeling much more confident about controlling the width of those lines now.
Curvy Cut Project I did not really get any work done on this project. But I did make the eight leaf stamps to use on the surface. Hopefully I will get to that step this week.
New Work 
This is the start of my newest rock piece. I am going to try to work on and 18” X 24” scale for four pieces. So far I would say it is proving to be more of a challenge then I expected.
Label Block # 26 One more done.
Keep Creating
Carol
After QBL 2015
Hello,
I am still feeling the effects of Quilting By the Lake and I am almost a week away from the event. I helped hang the quilt show that is part of QBL. (that was four weeks ago now) It is always great as one gets to look closely all the work. This piece is by my friend Randy Keenan. This shot of her is in the dorm lounging after a hard day.
The first night we had a great lecture and trunk show by Katie Pasquini Masopust. She was very excited about her log cabin work and it was very enjoyable.
Seeing old friends is always a big part of QBL for me. This hand work is by my friend Sharron Evens .
She was in Independent Studio class with me all week although she was in the other room. She is still working on her “Dear Jane” quilts, but she is now doing the boarder triangles. She is doing 
seven variations on this quilt all by machine and all at the same time.There is one for each of her children. Each is different color pallet with a different special effect. Over the two weeks of QBL she finished seven of the triangle units for all seven of the quilts. ( see some in the background of the second shot) She assures me she will be done with all of them 
by QBL time next year so she can take a class. It has taken four years to complete this task. This shot of her on the floor is
when she was getting ready to insert the center of this quilt on point. She has written a note book to go along with the project too. It is quite a task.
The really great thing about Independent Studio is how much is going on. 
Trina and Leona were working on two quilts based on the same photo of a Chinese Garden. It was fun to watch it change over the course of the week and to hear them talk- sort of a peek into the two different ways their brains 
worked on the same problems. I worked on a new rock /foundation piece. I did take a photo every day this is day 2. 
The second is day 5.
The other wonderful thing about studio is we can do just what we w
ant and on Thursday afternoon I taught a mini lesson in how to make silk paper in the women’s bathroom( it was too windy to work out of doors). It was fun and everyone who did it walked away with a little bit of silk paper to use .
There was a new feature this
year at QBL- it was a lecture/or trunk show every afternoon after class. The topics ranged from “How to care for your Quilts” by a textile conservator, a talk by Donna Lamb on “Future planning for QBL” to 
trunks shows. Week one I made it to two of the trunk shows. One by Julia Graziano and a second by Nancy Breland. Week two I went to 
Marcia De Camps’s trunk show. She showed forty works in forty min.
A second event that took place both weeks was a mini mall were participants and a few outsiders came and sold there wears at the quilt show. There was also a raffle in conjunction with that event
and I won a prize.
There was an special show / event at the Schweinfurth both weeks as well and I found it to be really fun and exciting. All the work was done with recycled materials. I encourage any one to go and see it.
In between weeks one and two of QLB I went home and did laundry and switched gears as I went off to a new class. On Sunday on my way back to QBL I stopped and visited the Syracuse Arts and Crafts fair. My friend Sharon Souva won a first place ribbon in the show. It does look good.
Donna and Stephany were there to greet everyone when we returned. I took a class with David Hornung week two- Color/Collage. 
This shot is of my work table day two in the morning before I got started.
It is still sort of tidy- but things went down hill from there. Marcia worked next to me and I really enjoyed watching her build her projects. Her style is so clean and beautiful. 
Linda was across the room and this shot is of one of Linda’s more lyrical projects.
Angela was in the class too and she ended up doing lots of Gelli plate printing of her backgrounds instead of painting them. She even demonstrated for David and other interested folks how the process works. I think David is hooked and will try this technique.
The last night of QBL is always a mixture of excitement and sadness. We have a class show and tell for all the classes. This shot is of the folks in Sherri Lyn Woods class. 
This year was the final teacher apron auction for the scholarship fund. I really liked Judy Bliden’s “eat out” apron .
I went back to the dorm for one last bit of talk and parting. Sharron made am a root beer float and it was wonderful way to end a great week of QBL activites .
Then there was the AQS Quilt Week going on down town too.
Saturday morning I went down and meant Cheri and her mom to check out the show at the On Center . The quilt show was a good 
one and I had a hard time choosing my favorite. Marcia’s quilt was among the quilts of friends that I spotted at the show.
I enjoyed the SAQA section
of the show too. Most of the quilts in that part were from Europe. I really liked this wonderful piece with all the different textures the most.
Things did not stop with the second show for me either. The first Tuesday of the mount was this week so I had QuIG’s and Diva meetings too. So many folks were also QBL partisipants that we spent a lot of time talking about what folks did.
Several folks- Liz, Linda C, Linda H and Angela were all in a Cantha class together.
The hand work is wonderful. Angela has already started two shawls with this type of stitching in mind.
It will be a while until it is done- but I really like the start of this one. 
Linda H is taking an on line class with Elizabeth Barton. This is her solution to the problem for the July Challenge. What great movement. 
Linda C has finished the work she showed us last month. I really like what she does with small inserted lines.
Angela is taking an on line class too and this is her felted interpretation of one of her drawings.
Sally did this work about
Dr. Who for her daughter who is crazy about the story.
She was busy with her embroidery too and getting ready for Christmas. This is a part of a Christmas tree skirt.
Sue Ellen is working away on her tree series and this is the newest one.
She also took a class at QBL with Cynthia Corbin and did a lot of work with purples. This shot also shows the inspiration for the piece she did in this class.
Liz is making progress on her Row by Row work . It will make a great summer quilt when she is done.
Victoria 
was in Judy Bliden’s class and here is her final sketch for the next quilt she will be working on.
Julia was asked to be a part of Nancy Crow’s Circles Show and this is her entry. It is wonderful.
Sally is moving so we made a little box full of little quilts form all of us. She is holding up Alice’s work here. This second is Susan’s piece for Sally.
Anne is working away on finishing this piece for a show. I really like the interesting machine 
quilting she is doing with her work.
Noel took a painting class at QBL and she learned how to paint sea shells among other things. This work will be fun to watch grow.
Ruth purchased this piece from the AQS show. It is on of the Egyptian
tent works that they were featuring and selling. I like all the wonderful color and usage of traditional Egyptian patterns.
I have not done any work out side of QBL but I am very full of ideas.
Keep Creating
Carol