Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Trees, Uncategorized

Moving Along

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Hello,
Fall is all around and I am a busy camper. As the weather gets chillier, the events seem to increase too. Saturday the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist group ment. There where thirteen at the meeting this time. Lots to talk about and work to shair.

Liz is altering books for herself enjoyment.

Jean G is effected by the fall colors and she is doing a self challenge.

Jean M is creating with her new sewing machine. And I would say she is making some great creations too.

Ann did this piece as a part of the Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild challenge.

Joyce is our weaver and she had these works to share with us.

Linda shared this portrait of her grandson.

The second floor gallery at the Schweinfurth is showing Paul Konark’s work. I always love it and this is my favorite this time.

I spent Wed at the Schweinfurth working on the Stolen Neighbors NY project. We are getting ready to launch it out into the world. Here are some of the blocks that are already done. It is a fun on going project.

Progress Report: Patwork America This work has proved to be a challenge. I started doing the words in embroidery with black thread. It was awful so I took it out and carried the work to the FLFA meeting where I got some help. I am off to the Fall Schweinfurth Retreat and the work will get tackled there.

Tree Block Another project that I am taking to the retreat is the tree project. I laid them out and discovered I had two blocks made months apart where I had used the same technique twice, so I had to make another block this week to replace the duplicate.

Wash Up I did put in a littel handwork on this project this week.

6X6 The postcard from the Rochesterd Art Center came calling for the annual 6X6 Challenge again this year. So I had to get to work and create a new block for that origination. I do enjoy making these little works for such a valuable causes.

I did finish Lap 30/26 and then I packed it up with six of it’s fellow lap quilts and passed them on to a friend who is going to take them to a Nursing home. The cold is upon us and they are needed I am sure.
Keep Creating
Carol

Applique, Experiments, Hand work, Lap Quilts

Fall

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Hello,
We are experiencing a wondrous fall. The weather continues to be warm and we are enjoying it. We do need rain, but its absence has created another thing. The leaves are just falling directly under the trees and there are beautiful carpets of yellow, orange and red under them. I even caught two as they fell from the trees.

This week was busy but the most enjoyable thing was the opening of Q=A=Q at the Schweinfurth. I got to see lots of friends who made the special trip to be there because they are in the show. I will add images of their work as time goes by.

Work continues forward on the Stolen Neighbors NY project. I have now completed three blocks and have several more in progress. That means I alone have started representing 75 of the victims. Our meeting on Wed was very productive I think.


Progress Report Falling Feathers This work is 26″ X 26″. I finished this work with the addition of one small real feather. It blends into the background a bit, but I like that.

I enjoyed the class and although I will never use the computer generated cutter myself, I can see ways it can help others.

Patchwork America I am happy with how this project is going forward. I started hand stitching the words on top last evening- but I did not like how they looked. Too small and too close to the top of the work. So I have pulled all that stitching out. Sometimes one can not foresee how something will look or work before hand.

Brown Bag 2 It is a new month so I started my second Brown Paper bag project. Again I used what was on the desk as my starting place- the cut aways from the Patwork American figures. I have not put any handwork on this yet.

Felted Dryer Balls I am still doing Physical Tharpy for my knee. The therapists and the client next to me were talking about dryer balls on Wed last week so I got busy and made a start on several. Ideas can come from anywhere!

Quilt on a Stick 3- Melt ICE I really like doing thewse little projects. They go so fast! So when I get an idea for one I can do it in a short time. I hope to inspire others to follow through too.

Shore Line I have not had any textural handwork projects in a while and so I got busy and created a background to start a new one this week. I had fun melting some plastics together with the iron and using them as a beginning place too.

Lap 30/36 Here is another top I created at the Fall Sisterhood Retreat. I made a back yesterday and I will layer it and quilt it this week.
Life is moving quickly forward.
Keep Creating
Carol

Uncategorized

Home from Ball State trip

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Hello,
We made a quick trip home to Muncie Indiana to go to Ball State’s 100 Homecoming. What a fast weekend! I had not been back in ten years and things have really grown on campus. Lots of festivities and no matter how hard I tied I could not find the bookstore. I am glad we went, but I do not intend to go again as there is no one there that I know any more. I did enjoy looking at the Art galley that now fills the total art building. This work there sure looked like a quilt- but it is a painting.

I got involved with the Stolen Neighbors project that the Schweinfurth in quarantining. I will post more about that as we make more decisions.

Progress Report: Falling Feathers This project is made from cut out feathers from my class with Valerie Goodwin at QBL this summer. I fused down the feathers and butterflies and then stitched on top. It is coming together quickly.

Patchwork America This project is another one for the Art Rage show. I got the base all done before we went away. This is a shot of the patchwork I am doing to cut out the figures for this project. They will go on top of the quilted cream base and then I have a quote to add on top that layer.

Scrap Happy This is a project that I started at the Sisterhood of the Scissors retreat. I got the back all pieced yesterday. Sense I can not get down on my knees I packed it all up to take to the Schweinfurth for the sew day next week.

Stolen Neighbors The goal of this project is to represent folks that ICE has taken from New York state. Each 2″ square represents one person. I have been cutting one square every day since we started talking about this project and this is what I have so far. We are going to assemble the squares into to 10″ units so counting will be easier and we can keep track of our numbers to coincide with the numbers of people that ICE has taken from New York state.

Keep Creating
Carol

Hand work, Lap Quilts, SAQA, Trees, Uncategorized

Fall is Here

Hello,
We are seeing fall colors in this part of the country. The sky’s have been gray many days, but the trees don’t seem to mind. I had a quiet week with on events except the Dr appointments and PT. Keeping the body in shape takes more and more time as we age.
My good news for the week was learning that my contribution Flight, to the SAQA auction, sold.

Progress Report Lap 26/26 I did 8 lap quilt tops at the retreat last week. Now I am doing the finish up.

Tree Blocks I got all excited when I realized I only had three more blocks to make to finish the piece. So I laid out all three when I got home. This is the first using dotted Swiss as teh base form.

This is the second using cut up felt to define the crown of the tree. I sure have enjoyed making each tree in a different manner. It has been sort of a techniques record/ challenge for me.

This is the last one and I used organza to built the tops of the forest of trees for this one.


Emily’s Project I am excited to be doing the quilting of words that describe the practices types of law cases that it deals with as the quilting. I like doing cursive as quilting.


New Work I know this doesn’t look like much at this point as it is the base. I want a natural beginning for my next piece for the Art Rage show. I found a quote that I want to use and that is want I want to feature.

Protest on a Stick This idea popped into my head and so I exactitude it. I really love it when an idea comes so easily- and that is a real thing for me.

I hope you are enjoying fall.

Keep Creating
Carol

Hand work, Lap Quilts, SAQA, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Trees

Home Again

Hello,
I arrived home yesterday from the Sisterhood of the Scissors fall retreat. We have been going to Keuka Lake for 6 years and it feels like home coming. The weather was fine with rain only one day, so we did walk every day and did tons of work.

Every year one of the group chooses a fabric for a challenge. This year there where three rules.
1.the fabric had to be recognizable.
2.there had to be some ” bling”
3.there should be some handwork as a part of the project.
They were due and it was fun to see how others used the fabric that Susan selected last year. This is my solution.

Joyce did hers in 3-D. Her bling was teh handwork she added.

During the week she did this scarf weaving. Nice job with great colors.

This is Susan’s challenge project. Her bling was beading in the center of each circle.

She worked on a puff quilt for her mom during the retreat time. This looks luscious to me and it is so very colorful!

This lovely green print is the challenge fabric for next year selected by Cheryl our newest member. Ann will also add a quote for us to respond too as a part of this year’s challenge.

We also had a bit of show and tell. This is Ann’s work- the Block Head Challenge for this year. Very handsome, I think. She has challenged us to Do the Block Head by MODA challenge for this next year as an extra as well.

Ann spent the time doing handwork on this pieces that she had hand dyed a few years ago. Strong start I think.

Za za shared this beautiful top. Her use of gray as apposed to black for the filler is really nice. She spent a lot of time putting bindings on work at the retreat.

Deb worked on a portrait of her grandson and the dog.

This was Cheryl’s first year and only her first quilt. It is a very strong start! I hope she continues to quilt.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Progress Report: Bog Log This work is 38″ X 34 “. I worked away on this project at the retreat. There is lots of handwork as well as free motion on here. Joyce let me use her markers on the Puff Balls so they look more realistic.

I enjoyed creating the shelf mushrooms too. They were made with interfacing and paint.

Scrap Happy I arranged and put together these rows of blocks for the next scrap happy quilt. I will have to make a back now.

Tree Block quilt I trimmed up all the blocks that I had created at the retreat and discovered I needed three more to completed this work. Back to work.

Tree Block When I got home I got busy and layed out a new one. I worked on this during the Pixie Zoom meeting yesterday afternoon.

Emily’s quilt I had finished the top and the back before the retreat. There I had access to four tables for a few hours when I first arrived so I got it pin based in that time. I did not get started quilting until I got home because the throat of my travel machine could not handle the size. I will move forward on this now.

Lap Quilt Tops I had lots of left over 2.5″ and 4.5″ strips from previous lap quilts so I decided to bring them along and make tops out of some of them. It was fun and I now have a very reduced pile of strips. I think I could stretch one or perhaps two more out of remaining strips- but I will concentrate on finishing up these first.

Being back at my normal life I am sure production next week will be back to normal. It was enjoyable to have no goals but to work from the time one got up until one went to bed.

Keep Creating
Carol

Lap Quilts

Fall

Hello,
Things have be a little kilter here of late. Two weeks ago I messed up my knee some how and ended up learning I have Atradius. I’m in PT and things are getting better every day. Then some how my phone went a little crazy and I could not take photos. After a trip to the Apple store it now has a new camera and I am moving forward. I did visit with Marty last Wednesday. We had an enjoyable afternoon. Then on Friday, I went with Susan and Victoria to Marcia’s house for a play day. Sorry no Photos. Now I am packing up for a six day retreat with Sisterhood of the Scissors.

Progress Report: Emily’s Project The top is all done now and the back is almost complete. I hope to get it pin based at the retreat. Due to the knee problem I will not be able to craw on the floor to do that job. I hope I can commandeer two tables for the work. It is moving forward.

Broken Blocks II I am done with this project now too. It is a lap quilt. I took a little challenge to use a quarter pack that I purchased at the Vermont quilt show to do this. I like all the colors.

Bog Log This project is moving along. It is due at the end of this month so it is getting a lot of my attention. I am doing lots of handwork on it.

Invisible Women This project is in early stages. I want to do it for the Art Rage Show in April. I am trying to say that women over 50 are dismissed by our society. This is my first shot at that idea.

I am looking forward to teh retreat. Hope you too are enjoying fall.
Carol

Birds, Broken Blocks, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Thread Painting

Moving Along

Hello,
As we move into fall more and more activates start up. Is that increase the result of the end of summer, or just our way of warding off the soon to be cold days of winter? For me that meant the fist meeting of FLFA sense June. The meeting was at the Schweinfurth as usual and they had a great display of work to honor Harrat Tubman. This piece really pulled me in.

FLFA meeting was a small group with some great work. This is Susan’s piece and she got into QAQ with it. We are so proud of her!

Maureen is experimenting with raised surfaces with her stitching. It is hard to see here, but this is a whole cloth piece with the dark lines stitched to stand up.

Ann brought her bed quilt top to share with us. It is beautiful.

Joyce took a class at the Schweinfurth in the spring on three D weaving and she created this wonderful lamp among other works. It sure is a creative bunch and that is inspiring too.


Progress Report : Broken Blocks II I am ready to start the quilting step for this work now.

Bog Log I have started the free motion work on this piece. The ferns are made too and it is a case of deciding where I want to place them now. I also started making the mushrooms yesterday. Lots of steps in this work.

Lets Play I made this thread painted Blue Jay to add to the piece this week. For the way I work it is good to have several projects going at the same time.

Emily Project I made a mistake while I was working on this project last week and put all the machine drawn pieces in the wrong place, so I had to take it all apart. Now I have that fixed. I need to create nine more little figures to move forward. At my meeting I got some ideas from the lawyers for people that they wanted. I am ready to go.

Keep Creating
Carol

Bog Log, Hand work, Landscapes, Lap Quilts, SAQA, Trees

Moving into Fall

Hello,
The days are getting shorter and the sun is moving north. I now see the sun coming up directly through my east facing door. By the end of next week it will be beyond that point.
This week was quiet except for my meeting with Emily about the commission. I was excited about the chance to show off the work I had done, only to discover the afternoon before that I had made a big mistake in my thinking and all the stitched work had to be taken out. I am back on track now. I did a lot yard work this week and had a few Dr appointment so I did not get as much done as I wanted. Next week is full meetings so studio time will be limited next week too, but that’s the way it is sometimes.
I was delighted to discover that my 12″x12′ quilt “Flight” was featured in an add for the SAQA Auction.

Progress Report: Broken Blocks II I started the backing of this quilt this week. I am making it out of leftovers. I like to use my fabric wisely.

Bog Log I am moveing forward on this project and I made these ferns yesterday. I have more to wash out, but I don’t have a big enough foam board to wash them out on. I am moving forward on the clutter on the forest floor too.

Tree Block I think this is the last block for this project as I now have 30. I have not laid out any of them yet. Nor have I trimmed them to size, but that will happen.

Pillow I finished up this pillow this week. It is stuff with thread and cut away parts form other projects.

Lap 22/26- Yellow Challenge Susan of Pixies challenged up to use yellow last week and so I did a lap quilt with that in mind. This week the challenge is to use Red. I don’t think I will have time to do a quilt this week, but I will do something.

Quilt on a Stick Challenge At Marcia’s camp two weeks ago’ Victoria suggested that we do a small quilt on a stich like they do at the Minnesota State Fair. She shared great photos and we agreed it would be fun. So this is my drawing of a 8.5 ” X 11″ of the project. I am moving forward on this one as I want to share it with the group on Wed when the Sisterhood of teh Scissors next meets.

I hope you are enjoying the season and making wise choices.
Carol

Bog Log, Broken Blocks, Hand work, Landscapes, Lap Quilts

Camping 2

Hello, I made a second trip up to Marcia’s Camp over the weekend. We had as good a time on this outing as before. Nancy joined us this time so there were five of us. Marcia’s big van held us all for our outings. She is a gracious hostess and a great guild.

Our first stop was a walk to a bog. It was not a long way and there were hundreds of mushrooms along the trail. I am really full of ideas about how to finish up my Fungus project now. But the trail was steep down to the bog with lots of roots. Going back up was much less fun, but we all made it.

The next stop was The View to see the Adirondacks Watercolor Show. Lots of beautiful works of art there.
We had a very good time.

Before I went to the Adirondacks, I took down my show at the Library. They were very kind, but it was still a bit of a let down.

I got home to learn that two of my works were accepted in the Quilts Unlimited Show at The View. Polk Berries and Canadian Wildfires will both be on display there. I am delighted. So I will be making another track to Old Forge in the near future.

Progress report: Sisterhood Challenge I can see the end of the handwork part of this project. I worked on it while I was at the zoom meeting for the Pixies this week. I am glad to stay connected with them. There are only three more stars to outline on the project.

Broken Blocks II I did the slice, shuffle and reassembly of the blocks for this project this week. The arrangement of the blocks after they are made takes as long as the creation step for me.

Blog Log Not only did I see lots of fungus on the bog walk, I found my title for the work. The foreground is mostly laid out as far as a base is concerned. I will add to it as I go of course and work on the background as well as decide on what I want in the background this week. I have lots of photos to inspire my work now.

Emily’s Project Now that I have all the greens I want to use in this work I can really move forward here. It is going along nicely I think.


Tree blocks Each little stitch moves this work forward. My being away meant it did not get much attention this week.

Enjoy the holiday this week and keep creating.
Carol

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer