Hello, 

 This is the time of year when we stop and give thanks.  I am so thankful for my family and friends, my good health and my chance to create  art.  Life could not be better for me then it is  and for that I am truly grateful.

The open studio on Thursday evening went well and I sold one piece with a chance to sell a second.   The shop owner at Eureka talked us into being open on Saturday as well, because she says lots of folks stop on their way to the Syracuse University Ball games.  So Barbara got busy and put out a sign on Saturday.  She did really well selling over $ 400.oo worth of work.  I am happy for her.   I got a lot of button whole units created for the Blooming Bacteria quilt although I did not sell anything on Saturday.

 Progress Report:  Blue Yonder This quilt is full of experiments.  I hand printed the blue images on the white last winter.  I made the screen from the curlers mom had used when she gave me a  home perm when I was a kid.    I printed the blue fabric paint on top of a white fabric that I had done a little blue crayon rubbing on first.   I also spent a day with Barbara last winter using stencils and modeling paste on fabric.  I did not know if I could stitch through it when I tried that experiment,  and  it worked.  I also added turquoise and blue paint on some of the fabric so it was not so stark.  I did some bleach discharging on the royal blue fabrics that I used on this work.  The fifth exeriment that is part of this quilt is the dark blue and light aqua square.  I found one  old  piece of light sensitive fabric in the package and exposed it to sun light with one of my stencils on it last summer.  That created the indigo and  pale blue part of the block. Then I used the same stencil a second time only I used  the aqua oil crayon on the stencil this time.    This piece of fabric is also were I got my idea for the quilting pattern.  The swirling pattern is not the same but very similar. 

Sun Shine   This quilt is also an experimental project.  It is based on one of the techniques that Katie Pasquini Masopust teaches in her classes.   After adding scraps of fabric on top and giving the canvas a second paint job, I stated slicing and then zig zagging the pieces back together.  It is a scary and fun technique.  When I was  happy with the composition then I free motion quilted the work and bound it.  I enjoyed the porcress so I think I will try it a second time.   The slicing sure adds a freedom that is not typical of the usual quilting  process.

 Foundations# 4    This is my newest highly textured piece.  It is based on a rock formation picture that I took last summer in Maine.  I have decided to change the title of the series to Foundations because no one but me sees “rocks” in the work.  It is too abstract and I am OK with that idea.  I  so enjoy the process of building up the wrinkles and adding the textures of the silk paper and  yarns.    I just let the fabric tell me what to do after I get the basic lay out pinned down.  It seems to become alive and change under my finger tips.   Building up layers of stitching lines and fabric bits is fun!  I can hardly wait from one day to the next to get back to these pieces. 

Foundations #5 

This one is even less defined than #4.  I am still auditioning fabrics that I might use here.  ( the pinned fabric on the right and left)  I do know that I want the leaf print to become totally lost before I am done here, so you can see there is a lot to build up on this one.

Swallows     A few weeks ago I made a background for Oak Leaves that did not work.  The colors of the blues cashed with the greens so I made a second background and this one is the first attempt.  I was watching birds on my walk one day this week and thought that I could create a stencil and use it on this extra sky.     So when I got home I cut a swallow stencil and printed it on a bit of fabric.  It worked, so I did it on the sky.  After I have lived with it bit longer and I am sure that is does not need any more birds I will start to quilt it.

Daily’s  I am finding that I am having fun exploring new stitches as I continue to work with these little pieces.  My stitches are far from uniform, but they are fun.

I hope that the holiday was a pleasant one for all and that the turkey was delicious.

Keep Creating.

Carol

Hello to  everyone,

 I am home from a most wonderful journey to Maine.   But before I left the computer crashed.  I was able to get some info down loaded by the GEEK SQUAD( thank you!) but some things were lost.  Like all the Favorite connections and such.    It has taken me until today to get back to where I can write this work.  I did indeed type a post on Wed in prearation, but again in my efforts at the new navigation of this system  and I saved it somewhere so safe I can’t find it again.  Enough complaining!   Maine was beautiful with lots of great color ans my favorite subject-rocks.  I took lots of new pictures of rock surfaces in Arcadia and I am sure they will be worked into upcoming art.  Rocks and water go together so well.    We spent a day in Elizabeth’s studio painting  and had a grand time.   The paint was almost as colorful as the environment.  I created more fabric for rocks of course and Marty did great water color type stuff.  Elizabeth  let us pin the drying fabric to the back of her milk shed and it made a grand display.  Barb spent the day mixing lots of colors,many will be used in furture paint days as she says she is just starting to play now.  

Progress Report:  Oak Leaves  For the background on this piece look at the posts  for Sept 12 and 19. I am ready to build the background now.  I tried two before I reached the one that is in the photo.    I plan to quilt horizontal wind patterns onto the blue background and then apply the limb and leaves on top. 

Rounds    I have now assembeled this work and it is waiting the next step.   I am uncertain about how I want to go forward with the process so I will just move it to the bottom of my work pile and will let it rest for the time being.   I did show it to the gals in the work study group yesterday and they had some good suggestions about how to proceed.  I will  let those ideas work in the back of my mind for a while and when I look at it again later I hope I will know exactly what to do with it.

Vertical Wall ( formerly Road to Dry Falls)   I quickly put this work on the wall at the end of quilting one day and it was on the vertical instead of the usual horizotnal format.  When I came back in the morning, I knew that the new layout was a much better position.  I think that this work is nearly complete now.    When I am sure the work is complete I will sign it and post close ups.

   Gray Wall   I am doing the hand work and free motion quilting on this work now, it will soon be complete so I am only going to show a close up of one area  for this  week.

New work  This is a new work that  I started just before my departure for Maine.    I  came across some of the fabric I had screen printed last winter with Barbara  so I used it.   The color pallit is a bit bright compared to what I am working toward at the moment,but it was a fun diversion.

Daily Exercise    I decided that I needed a small hand work project.  So I cut some white 4.5 ” squares.  Then I  fused a red circle and a black rectangle to each one.  I made no attempt to cut them the same size nor did I try to put the shapes in the same location on each square.   I then cut a four inch squares of batting to add to the back of the squares.  I took red and black thread along to do the handwork with and started my personal challenge.   I have done 16 blocks so far and have the start of several more.    Doing just a little everyday is a good thing for me  and not  too demanding.  I am having fun shuffling them around already I cannot tell for sure what order I did them in.  I like laying them in in different relationships to one another too.    I will keep it up for a while,  but I am not making any commitment to the leath of time for this action yet.

I hope fall is keeping everyone happy.

Keep Creating

Hugs

Carol

Hi followers,

I messed up and left my camera at my daughters today.  I will get in in the morning and post for this week tomorrow.

Thanks you

Carol

Hello,

I am feeling like we are to the dog days of summer now.  The slow down and the feeling that nothing is really pressing is  upon me at least.  We had a good time this week on our visit to Philly and the Barn’s Exibit.  I did use the audio guide that the museum provides and that did enhance my experience.   I enjoyed all the images.  I had forgotten that he collected so may African masks.  That is a subject that I too love.   Barns took so much care in how he presented the material that it was quite enjoyable.    I found that by the beginning of the third  hour of intense looking that my mind could not really absorb  much more  material.   We really only did a through look at the top floor as the ticket man told us floor one was crowded when we started, so he sent us upstairs.   Eric and I agreed that we will need to do a return trip.   I was exhausted and slept really well that night.   I feel really good about looking at art too- it is so stimulating.  Because I was away for three full days this week I did not get too much done.

  Progress Report: Thoth  Eric’s birthday gift is finally finished.  I will add the sleeve this evening and then give it to him.  He can take it to his office and hang it next week.  I like the stencil of Thoth and I am sure I will use it again.  

This second shot is of the eye is one of the Egyptian’s favorite symbols.    I quilted in papyrus plants  and leaves in the back ground as a part of my new push to add interesting quilting to my work.

This golden scarib is from an old stencil that I did several years ago.  I have made it a habit to always create a new stencil or stamp in the Egyptian style for each additional quilt that I create in this on going series.     There seem to be many people in my life who find Egypt fasinating, including myself.

Wind Fall   I stared this quilt weeks ago and I have only just gotten back to it.  I wanted to do something for the “Sticks and Stones” show that was not rock related.    We had some sever weather a few weeks ago and there were lots of little dead branches that were blown down after the storm.  I had collected a pile as they were so smooth and simple in shape.  I hand stitched with heave cotton some to them to the surface over the course of the last few weeks.  They are all attached now and I will begin to quilt the piece this week .  So the final will show up next time.

I hope summer is proceeding in a clam forward motion for everyone.

Keep Creating

Carol

  Hello,

Quilting By the Lake is over for one more year, but I am still in the happy after glow of seeing everyone.  Week two brought with it   new classes and some additional people.   This first shot is of the mini mall that happens both weeks and is when the participants can sell their wares- books, patterns, posters and fabrics- to others at the conference.  This event is always well attended by both faculty and the students as we all check out the special items our fellows wish to part with.

Week two is always as much fun as week one because I enjoy  watching as new a different ideas emerge from my  peers.    This shot of Sharron shows her 4.1/2″ Dear Jane blocks behind her.  She is doing this quilt in six variations and claims that after she has worked out the “bugs” with the first block the others are easy.  

Debbie continued to work away on her scrap quilts and finished two more tops the second week.    Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves in the Independent Studio class and produced lots of work.  Linda ( on the right) quilted and completed this this beautiful orange and black piece.   Betty worked very hard on this black, white red and yellow quilt for her grandson.  I think Cathy did a lot of exploration with her seven  works that are pictured behind her. I feel the smiles say as much about the good feelings that carried us all home as any thing.

Apron Auction  Last week  there was an apron auction and this week that was repeated.  All the teachers made or altered QBL aprons. Cynthia Corbin skillfully hid a small piece of her  work on the back of this fuffy/furry apron.    Rosalie continued her fish theme with fried fish this week.   We all had fun bidding and enjoying the festivites at the end of the session.

Progress Report Exploration 1:   I did some work myself  too.   This new bit of exploration was more work with the curved line connections.   I made the white, rust, orange and green fabric in a QBL 2 class about four years ago.  The colors fit well with the rock and canyon things I am doing now that it has now found a home.

Exploration 2:    Here  I used a piece of Randy Keenan’s discharged fabric as my starting  place.  I had purchased it at the mini mall.  I was also feeling a bit out of my depth with the curved work so I wanted something I felt comfortable with too.   I started quilting this with silver thread this morning. 

Exploration 3:  This work too started with and older bit of Randy’s fabric.   I purchased it last year  and it got burried.  It only came back to light when I was doing my cleaning in preperation for  QBL three weeks ago.

Exploration 4:    This is another of the curved line piecing / rock wall projects.  I am not at all happy with it so far.  I think I did too much in the way of curves and so it is very warped…… A new problem for me to solve before this will be seen again.    But I am showing it to let you know I make mistakes, especially when I am trying new things.  If one does not make errors every now  and again then one is playing it too safe.

 Good Habits   This quilt was also started at QBL  and I finished it this week.  I think the completion was do to the small size as much as any thing.    I challenged myself to create a block of a simple every day object.  I chose a toothbrush.      The white areas are the bristels of the brush and I added lots of line quilting to add to that feeling.  The  multi-colored area is the handle of the brush.   I quilted in toothpaste tubes in various stages of usge in the solid areas.  I did have fun with this project and plan to make the idea a challenge to one of my design groups.

Do to a change in plans I will be away next week on Thursday  so this blog will be posted on Friday next week.

I hope everyone is enjoying the bounty of summer and creating great things.

Hugs

Carol

Hello,

I am home from Quilting By the Lake for the week end and it has been as fun and exciting as always. I helped hang the quilt show on the 12th. We stared the morning with a big empty gym and boxes of quilts and hanging units.    We asssembled units and started putting the work up.  This shot is of Tony – a long time assistant that has followed QBL from  Morrisville Community College,  its last home,  to Onondaga Community Collage, the new home for the last five years.  By  noon the gym was starting to look like this shot.    We continued to hang and make alternations as the day went on.  There was a featured exebit of the work of one of our quilters.  It showed her work from the first year  of QBL to last year when she passed away.  It was lovingly curated and hung by two of her good friends Debbie( standing) and Andy( on the ladder).  Although the job was not complete we went  home at 4:30.  A new crew came in on Sat and finished the job.

I started giving away little doll pins that I now call  Creative Assistants to folks at QBL years ago.  They stared by my making a pin for a friend that was a copy of a petroglyphic that she had shown me the year before.  The pins have taken on a life of there own and I enjoy making them over the course of the year and them passing them out to folks that I come in contact with.   They are fun and a bit silly- they always make everyone smile.  Some folks have very big “tribes” as they add a new member every year as the pins change each and every time I do them.    ( I will post a tutorial on how you can do it too after QBL is over. )

I spent my week of uninterrupted  quilting in a class called Independent Study.  It is unstructured and undirected.  We all work at out own thing at our own pace.    These shots of some of my fellow class mates gives you an idea of the wide range of actions going on.  Everything is relaxed and enjoyable with folks working on finishing projects,  to staring new directions.     One gal even spent some of her time creating little pig dolls and enjoying the process.  Most of the gals in this class  are old timers.  We all enjoy the atmosphere.   I  can not believe I have been participating for 31 years- but that a fact….. Only my Marriage is a longer relationship.

Progress Report

I did start lots of work too.   Project 1

I am continuing to use images from the trip to Idaho as inspiration.  This is one from a rock wall at Dry Falls.  I am still playing with strips of fabric that I can wad and fold over to create texture.

Project 2     This one is of a small crack in  another stone wall.  It was in direct sun light and the contrast of the rock face and the shadow was very strong.

Project 3   This work is also inspired by a rock picture.  I used a much more traditional way of assembling this one however without the folded textures.

Project 4 Oak Leaves    

I played  silk that was fused to cotton.  I sewed the leaf vains on to the surface and then cut the leaves out.  I picked some real oak leaves( deep green) and used them as inspiration.   I learned that the side one puts on top when sewing in the vains is the way the leaf will curl when you let it hang.

The last event of the week at QBL is an auction of aprons that have been altered by the teachers.  The money raised goes to the scholarship fund .  It is always lots of fun and we all get a bit silly.  This time Rosalie Dace quilt teacher from South Africa, really went over board as she dressed her part.  It seems the IRS in response to her inquires about paying taxes had written her a letter.  On the back in pencil was a message that told her “she need not pay any taxes on any fish that she caught or sold”.   So she dressed up in wades, a fishing hat added a net and poll to illistrate her story.   Also shown in the photo are Cynthia Corbin, Hollis Chatelain and Katie Pasquini Mastopust.It was a fun week and I look forward to more of the same this next week.

I hope your week is as creative as I expect mine to be.

Hugs

Carol

Hello Friends,

Summer is really upon us, although it has been very rainy and cool here in the north east.  I can not believe that Summer Solstice  is tomorrow.  Time is flying before me.  I have been busy with events almost every day for the  last two weeks,  so time really moves in my point of view.

I started out with the hanging of my solo show at the Maxwell library.  There are 17 piece in that show titled “Earth Tones” , many have

never been seen before in public with a few works from the “Goddess” show as well.   The work spans over four years and it was a good chance for me to reflect on how much I like and use browns and golds.   This show also shows examples of the wide variety of techniques I use in my work. ” Know Now” for example has copper and leather added to the surface with some dish washer soap discharged work in the black areas of the top.   “Rusty Rings” on the other hand,  is a rust dyed silk with embroidery on it.

I also added dark fabric below the white silk to make “shadow” circles appear in the quilt.

“Collapse ” is from the Warped Work series and is one quilt on top of another with snaps to allow for a warped surface of the top quilt.  I did five works in this fashion to explore folds and shadows with my work.   I enjoyed this series, but no one seemed to understand what I was doing so I stopped working in this direction.  I may yet go back and do further exploration with this idea later.

“Mummy Cave Ruins” ( see last May 31 posting) along with  Ancient Voices and Rain Run were also a part of this show.  Putting up this show was fun, but it took me a long time to do the job.  I will be taking it down in a week.

The day after that was a Play Group event were we all played with stamping.    This picture is of cut eraser stamps that I taught.   The stamped image to the left shows how one can make a really big image by making one of your elements warp around the four sides of the eraser, so it flows together( the white line from all four images.)  This shot is of Linda’s exploration page from her eraser  cuttings.     Then I showed everyone how to use ” fun foam” to make stamps and apply the images to clear plastic so you can easily see were you are placing the stamp.   Liz made some fanciful shapes and she used a whole punch to add detail to her work as well.   Then Corinne demonstrated how to cut  on a circular form with linoleum cutters.   The shape does seem to effect the style and way one thinks about the images.    I cut two and stamped them both.   It was quit enjoyable.  I think I will use the  stamp, printed in blue here,  on my Fossil quilt as it resembles a Trilobite.

The next event in my life was a trip to  Rochester to the Genesee Vally Quilt Show.  There are 600 members in that quilt group and the show was very enjoyable.  While there  I participated in  my second Iron Quilter event.  There were 19 quilters and in 3 1/2 hours we all produced a quilt that was at least 24 inches on a side.  The topic, told to us at  the start, was  “Vanishing Act”.   We all rushed to the table of fabric provided and pulled stuff from the collection.   I started pawing with no idea at all about how to show this concept.  But I came across someone’s discarded block with two small elephants printed on it  and I had my brain storm.  I was off and running then.     This first shot is of the work at noon when then made us all stop for  lunch.  At this point I had fabric ironed and pinned to the surface, but no stitches yet.   Back form Lunch and two hours later and we all had a piece done.    I was exhausted as were most of my peers.

The “Vanishing Color” ( center quilt here) won second place.

I neglected to take a photo of the winner.

My quilt titled  “Vanishing Environments”  is OK for a work with limited time.  I learned that I can really re-lie on my machine drawing skills to pull me through when time is  short.    When asked if I would do it again- sure I would.  It is fun to stretch every now and then.

I have lots more to talk about, but find I am getting tired, so look  for an extra post in the next day or two.

Keep Creating

Carol

To Be Continued

Dear Friends,

I am still walking in the mornings and this week it really payed off.   I live a  few blocks from an undeveloped portion of the Syracuse University campus and on Tuesday I decided to walk through that part of my world as I wanted to see if  there were any wild flowers blooming.  I spotted this young deer instead.  It looked me over very carefully and then turned his white tale toward me a bounded away.      It was a great experience.

This week has been a full one as they all seem to be at this time of year.  I went to a Fiber Show Opening at the Schweinfurth on Sat evening.  My friend Angela had a whole little gallery fullof her work as a suplementry part of this great show.   I am so proud of her and all her wonderful felted Hawaiian Petroglyphs.   She told me that by the end of the evening she had been asked to be a part of an upcoming article in “Fibers Today”.     I am so happy for her and look forward to seeing her in print.   A second pal had participated in some wild knitting for this show too.  Barbara did a cover for the sign in front of the Art Center and she posed for me  in front of her work.   She told me she had to draw each letter out life sized and then work each row to match the pattern to make it work.   Trees and sign posts were also covered with colorful yarn additions.  What a fun challenge.  There were lots of folks at the opening that I knew and it was good to see all of them as well.   The Art Center is a fine source of creative inspiration and I am always glad when ever I go through it’s doors.

Progress Report: Mummy Cave Ruins    I really had a good time working on this quilt.  The memories of the trip to Canyon de Chelly are very vivid and every time I create a project related to that experience I feel wonderful.  I did add the silk paper I had created with Ethel on Wed last week.  It is the reflective stuff  on the left hand side.  I added the painted inner facing on the top of the canyon section too.   I liked doing all the free motion drawing around the figures and creating the texture in the rock faces as well.         I used water solvable crayons and colored pencils on this work too.   All the work on this piece pushed me to work on the second canyon piece I had started.

Canyon Stains
   I have only just stared building more color on the top of the painted image here, but again I am enjoying the process.    I am off to visit the west again next week and I know the landscape will capture me again- but southern Idaho is quite different then the canyon lands of Arizona and New Mexico so I want the images of that experience far enough along before I go.  I am sure the experience will create new images for new directions.

Red Nebula   I continue to add beads and hand stitching to the surface of this work.   I think it needs a bit more dark fiber felted into the composition to make it flow a bit more.   The beading also needs more intensity in the “center” of the nebula to feel completed to me.  Taking pictures and looking at the images on a smaller scale really does help one see the design problems that get lost in life sized work.  At least that is true for me.

Fossil Bed   I mentioned before that I am off to Idaho and a part of that will be a geology lecture.  So I have fossils and land formations on my mind.  This piece is a result of that mind set I think.   I am still struggling with the light/medium/dark thing and this top is a part of that.  I now feel the medium colored fabric  is too light and gets lost, but it may still work as a back drop for the fossil stencils I want to add on top.   I  have three more stamps and stencils to use on this top.  I plan to make them in various tone and shades of the brown and golds.   The vision is not real clear at this point.

Struts and Gurders
This top is also a part of my efforts to control/plan consciously the lay out of light/medium/dark.   I am so filled with self doubt that I do not know how I feel or were I am going with this piece.  When I looked at it this morning I felt I had tried to do make it all too busy and that the orientation was wrong.  I designed it in a vertical format so if you want an idea of that turn your head to the right shoulder and look at the work.     I do not know what or were to go with this piece- so I will  keep it folded up and take it to the QuEG’s and Diva meetings next week and get some feed from some other artists.   Growth in a new style/direction is difficult!

   New work:    Block Varieations
I had started this last week and the old photo form last week  shows the work with the parts pinned up but unassembled.  Now each block is put together and that makes them easy to move about.  This was the start of the light/medium/dark work and it is not very far along from before.  I have really only changed the orientation of this work and decided it needs  four more small blocks so I can play with a different placements of  the light/medium/ dark parts in those new blocks. I can say that  I was so frustrated that I buried it  under white paper for the week and only pulled it out today.  I did my typical thing  when I am frustrated and started new stuff.   I see now all I have  really done is  compound the problem  buy creating three light/medium/dark challenges to deal with now instead of one…..   I guess we all play games with ourselves.

Keep Creating

Carol

PS.   Please remember that I will be leaving on June 5 and be  away until June 16.  So there will be three week with out a  post.