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Spring is Here

Hello,

Spring has arrived according to the calendar as well as the longer sun filled days.   I saw more geese migrating north this week as well as these Snowdrops.   The temperature around here is still doing crazy things, but the longer days really helps one’s mood.

I have only had one day at home this week.

I helped take down the Both Ends of the Rainbow show at the Schweinfurth on Monday.    We worked hard and cleared and packed all three west galleries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yesterday I help Noel do more  packing of her studio space.  She generously gave me  lots of beads.   I will not need to shop for beads anywhere except my closet for a long time .

I also went to the  zoom meetings for Sisterhood of the Scissors and Pixies this week.   There was also a FAD meeting were I got so great  feedback and suggestions on some of my work.

Progress Report: Judy’s Banquet  This work is 40″w X 55″ t.   I made it all from the silk dress of Judy’s mom.     It was a pleasant  to work with the silk and it did not slide around much when I zig zagged it down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 6-25  I got busy and this is a new top that is pin basted an ready to quilt.  I took seven lap quilts to the nursing home this week as well.

 

 

 

Stencils- Robins and Black Capped Chickadees

The chickadees are  done with oil sticks .   The robins are  stenciled with acrylic paint.   I did another print day this week and  there are now enough robins for a quilt.

Oxymorons Challenge-  Plastic Silverware.   The fabric is all  stitched down now.   I am ready to add highlights.  I also drilled wholes in the plastic silverware  I want to add on top.

 

 

 

 

Red Tide    I am finally ready to start a new handwork tide piece.  I will be using some of the red beads beads that Noel gave me in this one.

 

 

 

Pillows    My friend Marilyn gave me the handwoven fabrics for these two pillows last fall.   I finally finished them this week.

 

My life is full and I have many friends that make it more joyful and rich.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Nature Keeps Moving

Hi,

We have joyously enjoyed a warm spell this week and  also  listened to the honking of migrating birds on our walks.   I know the full moon tomorrow is called a worm moon as the earth worms are starting to emerge from the cold earth.   But I have not seen any of them yet.   That plus the longer sun light days assure me that spring is on its way.     The tilt of the earth is also noticeable to me as the sun  shine now comes almost directly in through the 15 pains of  the east facing door of my studio  in the early morning.  Nature just keeps doing a powerful job of going forward.

It has been a very quiet week for me with only the Pixie meeting and  Textile Talks.

Progress Report: Sandpipers This work is 28.5″ w X 46″ t.    It is my response  to the  Sisterhood of the Scissors retreat fabric  challenge.    I hand drew all the birds and then appliqued them down.   

 

The challenge fabric are the cliffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 5-25     I enjoyed working on this lap quilt this week.   It is a great way for me to mix fabrics  I have printed in the past with commercial material.

 

 

 

 

Lap 6-25   Spring green is in my blood I guess as I pulled some of the same colors to use in this next one.

 

 

 

 

Judy’s Banquet   I finished cutting away all the flowers from the dress this week and free motion appliqued them down.     I even started reflective quilting yesterday.   It is a happy work.

 

 

 Oxymoron   I drew patters and started cutting the shapes of the silverware .   I am still playing with the arrangement of the parts .  This is real fun  for me.

 

 

 

 

Handwork     I did not spend much time on this work this week as I did the bindings on the  projects to complete them instead .

 

 

Stencils-   Black Capped Chickadees   I spent time designing and cutting stencils this week.       I will be busy printing in the near future.

Robins  I got a lot more  excited with the robins and they are far more active.  I may need to do a bit more work with the chickadees.    I also realized I will need to cut a second  stencil for each bird for the red breast so I can use  two colors .

Keep Creating and enjoy the longer day light.

Carol

 

 

More Sun Shine

Hello,

I am enjoying the days of more light.   It is nice to get up with the sun.   That will all change again on Saturday when we go to Daylight Savings Time.   But just the thought of more day light  is cheering to me.

Wendy and I went swimming on Thursday  last week and stopped at the Betts Library to check out the Cabin fever Quilt show on the way.   My piece, Blue Spanish Eyes  is a part of that show.

 

 

 

I also  included had my “Hand Out ” piece in my entries for the Betts show.  All the hands in this piece are drawn form photos I took of fellow quilter’s.

 

 

 

 

I was impress by this work too.   It has such strong colors.

 

My only other event  was  to the Pixie meeting.   I have decided not to include the meetings in my beginning topics.

 

Progress Report: Lap 4-25  This lap quilt was the big  thing I finished this week.     Sometimes one just needs to put in the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5-25     I did start this new lap quilt this week.     I sure enjoy these little projects that are judge free.

 

 

 

 The Tide’s Out     This project is going well.   I only have about  a 8″  section to complete and then it is off to the framers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandpipers   These fellows are all hand colored.   Now I am juggling then around on the background before I stitch them onto the surface.

Handwork  This work is done at then point.   I don’t have any goal for what will happen to this work.   Sometimes it is just about the process.

 

 

 

 Suit Case  My old suit case  is wearing out and it is too big to be a carry on, so I purchased a new one.   I like to identify them with squiggle paint, so there in never any doubt who’s case is mine.    It also means that when I travel in a group, folks get so they recognize  my piece and will often pull it off the caracal for me.

 

10″ X 10″  I want to contribute to the Art Rage auction so I have cut these two 1)” squares to embellish for that purpose.

Judy’s Banquet   Judy gave me an old prom dress and I am cutting it apart to use in this new quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

New Handwork     Having finished up a handwork project, I quickly pulled out a new one to work on.

 

Scrap Happy 1-25   I started a new scrap happy  project this week.   Now all the blocks are cut.

 

 

I hope folks are enjoying the longer day light hours and using them effectively.

Keep Creating

Carol

February Ending

Hello,

I can’t quite believe we are nearing the end of this month already.  I know it is this shortest of the year, but even that dose not seem to explain how it has flown by so quickly to me.   I find that time is a strange element.    At times it seems to inch along at a slow pace, epically at night when on can’t seem to fall asleep.     Then when one is busy the speed at witch it passes is a bit breath taking. This month as be a flier for me.

 

This week has been a full one as well.   On Tuesday,  I went with Liz to Angela’s and we spent the afternoon making paste papers.    I am not sure how I will use these at this time, but I will think on it.

 

 

 

Then yesterday Liz and I made a trip   to pick up her sewing machine after it’s repair.  We followed that with a drive to Quilters Corner in Ithaca.

I went  a little crazy and purchased this assortment of fabrics.    Three for specific projects and three fun ones.

There was also a Pixie meeting this week.

  Progress  Report: Lap 3-25        I sure enjoy these little projects  that give me a chance to play with color and placement.

 

 

 

 

 

4-25   This project grew directly out of the one before.   I am ready to move on to different colors for the next one.

 

 

 

 

 

Tide’s Out  I am working along the right side of this project now.    I do enjoy the process.

 Sisterhood Challenge    I finally got going on this challenge this week.    The cliffs are the challenge fabric.   At the quilt store I purchased two gray/ browns  that I want to use as my starting place to build some Sandpiper’s to add to the composition.

 

 

 

Paper Dolls    I finished using all the heads from the deck and now I am done with my Card Character’s.   It was a fun little diversion.

Handwork     I only do this handwork when there is no other pressing project.  I did finish the binding on 3-23 and then worked on this one.

As the light fills the sky a little longer every day I know that spring is coming closer.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Winter Beauty

Hello,

We are in the middle of a deep freeze, but there is a strange beauty about it all as well.   We   then experienced  a freezing rain and it coated the branches is a glorious  manor.     The cold and snow on top added to it, and then we had a full cold sunny afternoon.

 

 

Everything just sparkled.

 

 

 

That was followed  by    glittering crystals falling last night in  the street light  out side my window.      Today the world out doors is out lined in white and the sun is shinning in the cold.   We are enjoying a true winter here this year.

 

 

 

This week I went off to the  Both Ends of the Rainbow opening for seniors with my friend  Liz.     This is her pastel drawing two sleeping dogs.

 

 

 

 

 

Marty had a great quilt in this show.    I love how she did so much with only two fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharon had a piece in this show.  This is part of her fallow fields series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bev also had a strong piece in this too.

 

 

 

 

The other end of the Rainbow included lots of fun student work.  I found this cat by a second grader epically fun.

 

I made it to the Textile Talk this week as well as a FAD meeting and a Pixie zoom.     It had been and active week.

 

 

Progress Report: California Burning- the Victorian   I finally completed this work this week.   It is 42.5 “w X 34” t.  I used nylon netting, silk, organza, silk paper and cotton on this applique quilt.    The base is one of my last Judy Robert’s fabrics.

 

 

I enjoyed working with this project.  I am only sorry so may lost  their homes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cut & Print    This work is  37’w X 44″ t.     I sure seemed to struggle with this project.   It was started in Nov.   Then I took out a lot as it was not rite.   Changing the  size of the opening in the “film” did the trick.      I am happy with the end result.

This scissors quilt is quiet different than the others as it is made with stencils I cut and printed.  At the moment I feel this is the last of the scissors series.   But,  I do like the scissors shape and may return in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 2-25     This lap quilt is made from the leftovers of the two purple sweat shit jackets.     Oh,  I have more purples, but none left of most of these  purple prints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 3-25   I started a new lap quilt  right away,  in a different color range.   I finished assembling the top this morning.

 

 

 

 

The Tide’s Out    I just keep adding to this surface.  It is starting to fill up and I like how it is building.

 

 

Paper Dolls-the card  characters    As a part of my ” act on it now goal” – when I saw some similar paper dolls made from playing cards this week , I decided to try it.  They  are a fun little fast challenge with lots of possibilities.

 

 

 

 

Sisterhood Challenge   I finally pulled out the fabric for our group challenge and got going on it this week.   I have mostly laid out the shore line and  I am ready to stitch it down .

 

 

 

Collage/ Drawing  In looking at this collage/drawing now I think there is not enough color contrast to make this a successful piece.   It many need some additional work.

I hope everyone is staying warm and  creating a little.

Carol

 

Winter Moon

 Hello,

Happy Valentines Day to everyone.      The Moon was full last night- a snow moon – and we have had lot of that this week and last.  There are three more storms headed across the country that are set to hit us as well.     I guess we are making up for the mind winters of the past few years.

Last Friday the gals in the Trifurcation show meant at La Moyne with a young student and did a TV interview about the show.     He told us he selected us for his interview because he wanted to learn more about fiber arts.   I am glad we tickled his curiosity.

 

FLFA meant on Saturday   and we added Jean to our membership.  This is her leopardess.

 

 

Pat had a new jacket that she had made for her next fashion show.

 

 

 

 

 

Noel who told us she will be moving to Oklahoma, shared her newest hand work.

 

 

 

 

 

Maureen  is doing more Shiori for  her next hand work project.  This will be her starting point.

 

 

 

 

 

Anne is getting ready for a two man show and these are two of her new works based on her  Yellowstone trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan did a seirs of six studies in line.  They are all fun and interesting.   She selected tis one for me to shoot.

 

 

 

 

Linda is doing thread painting.  She taught a workshop in Colorado and now she is  hassling  to completed this for a class she is taking.

 

 

 

 

Bev is delighted to finally be back in her studio and she is working on this powerful muted piece by hand.   She is using all her own hand dyed fabrics here.

 

 

 

I also had  FAD meeting this week.   Judy shared one of her works with us.

The Pixies meant this week as usual too.

 

 

 

Progress Report:   Purple Jacket #2  I am happy to sha this project dose in deed fit as apposed to the first that I had to give to Judy because it was too small for me.  I also added pockets on the inside yesterday.  I will say it is warm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

California Burning- the Victorian  I can see the end of this project.  All the quilting is done and I am working on the sleeves and labels now.

 

 

 

The Tide’s Out   This  is a shot of the top edge of this piece.  I have been working on it most of this week and hope to finish this section today or tomorrow.

Cut & Print   I am out line quilting the scissors now on this project.  I have 22 pairs to go at this point.     I will be working out additional  quilting as I go forward.

 

 

 

 

Handwork  I am working away on this project when time allows.   I have had so much other handwork it has been pushed to the bottom this week.

 

 Felt Owls   I   am going to do  bit of felting now.  These four bodies will become small owls I hope.

 

Lap 2-25    I decided to use all the leftover fabric from the purple jackets to make a lap quilt.  Here is day ones work.

 

Enjoy the holiday and keep your fingers in the creative pot

Carol

Calm Winter Time

Hello,

For me this week has been very calm.   I did do the Textile Talk on Wed and  zoomed with the Pixies, but beyond that I mostly caught up with myself.      A bit of a fallow time and one can always use that.

Progress Report: Scrap Happy   I did the quilting on this project this week and now it is complete.   This one had lots of leftover blocks  in it.

 

 

 

Valentines      I finished up all of these on Tue.  Now I am ready to add the address  and mail them.

 

 

 

 

 

Purple Jacket II    I am making slow progress on this piece.  the back of both sleeves as well as the jacket back need to be completed now.

 

 

 

California Burning: the Victorian    I finally got to the free motion stitching on this project this week.      I need to build the hedge and the background and it will be able to complete it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tide’s Out      The progress on this one is slow.  I feel good that I am now working  from the center towards the top edge  at this point.  So one is looking at it up side down at the moment.      I try to do a little on this every day.

Cut & Print  I was unhappy with the “film” on this project so I took it off.  Now I am ready to rebuild that so  I can connect the parts.

 

 

 

 

Collage/ Drawing   This first collage with a drawing on top is called  Teton’s Slopes.    I am learning a lot about how the types of papers I use effect the markers and colored pencils.    I also think I will take a photo of the collage before I start to draw on top  next week.

This second collage drawing is called Snake  River.   I am using a book of images from the Tetons as my starting place for the works.

 

 

 

 

Handwork   I did not spend as much time as usual watching TV this week, so not a lot of progress was made on this piece.  I am always glad to pick it up and stitch when the news is on.

 

I hope you are enjoying the joys of winter and staying warm when you are at ease.

Keep Creating

Carol

Opening

  Hello,

It is a cold January, but many friend came to the short opening at La  Moyne  on Tue evening.   The director said it was one of the biggest turn outs he could remember. I was pleasantly surprised  by a friend from Associated Artists   and folks from several  quilt groups that I belong to.

 

Eric said he was proud of me.

When we hug it, I was impressed with how things went together like this shot of my Forest Fire and Victoria’s , Fires Within.

The guests  were varied and I talked with many folks I did not know at all.  Sharon even roped in some of the students that were in the library  who stopped mostly to eat the goodies.     It was a good time I think.

On Friday last week I went to Marcia’s for a work day.   Kathy shared her new eco printing work.  And she even gave me a book  with a cover made with one of them.   She did a good job getting lots more color than I usually do.

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce had a new doll  that she shared with us.   Her “Bringer of Light ”  has an electric candle .

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanne is going on a binge of making bags.   This leather one  is a strong piece I think.

 

 

 

 

I am working away in the Making Connections class.    I did the mark making with  some of the brushes I had made from another class.  For this class we were to work on tissue paper as well as old books.

 

 

I also make it to the Textile Talks  and the Pixie meeting this week.

 Progress Report:  Wash Up    This work is 18″ X 18″.     Sometimes it takes me a  long time to see what a work needs to be complete.  Such is the case with this piece.     It needed a focus.  When I came across the box of Mom’s  sea horse’s and star fish, I had my answer.     I attached them on  Tuesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 1-25     I worked on this piece this week and it went together quickly.     I enjoy these little quick works  that are pure play for me.

Tide’s Out      I am adding buttons, beads, shells and other odd bits to the surface of this one now.   I like building up the surface with lots of additions.   Texture is the thing I love the most and this work really shows that love.

 

 

 

 California Burning- the Victorian   I am cutting and pinning away on this house structure now.  I can’t seem to help myself with the addition of the fire too.  It is made from painted lutador, dyed silks and scarves, as well as nylon netting.  There is some painted fusible too.

Collages/ Drawings  I am having a good time mixing drawing with the collage work.   Knowing I am going to draw on top of the collage, I am freed up to keep that step a bit cleaner and simpler..

 

 

 

 

 

I have also learned to stay a bit lighter with my  color choices .

 

 

 

 

This one is a little heavy on  the  dark blue  paint, but I am still learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this one I can see now that I really need to out line the wings to make them show up

 

 

Purple Jacket 2   I am working away on this second attempt.  I used a zippered front sweatshirt this time and  that was a new problem.  It needs hand stitching  and I think that will solve that problem.

 

Handwork   I am not making any speed record with this project.  Too  many other things going on at the moment.    I did work on it a bit this week.

 

 

 

 

 Valentines   I added some yarn, ribbon, scraps, roving  red plastic fruit bags and some sequins to three different papers and then put some red nylon netting on top before I did machine stitching all over the place.  I’ll cut heart out of these papers  this week and make my Valentines with them.

 

I hope you are enjoying the  wonders of winter and keeping  the blues away.

Keep  Creating

Carol

Moving Forward

Hello,

This is the time of year when it seems like I am just inching forward.  I keep being pulled in so many directions,    I’ll just load the dishwasher, and then go to the studio.  Or I open a drawer and decide it needs to be cleaned out, and then I’ll go to the studio.   So when I get to the studio I see  I need to put away the remainders from the last project and I need to write that Thank you note…   on and on it goes and the day it done and I have not done any real studio work.  I will admit that I did a trunk show for The Thumbstall Quilt Guild on Tuesday night and that did take a lot of prep time.   I related quilting like learning how to read.  You learn the letters( how to cut the shapes) then how to make words( making blocks).   The next step is reading books( like putting the quilt together).   Hopefully the Librarian shows one that there are   many different categories of books:  Like mysteries, romances, plays,  comedies,  poetry and nature text to mention a few.  I related the different types of books to  the many different techniques one can use to create  quilts.      I think they enjoyed the narrative as well as the work.     I still need to put the quilts away in there proper groupings so I can find them the next time I am called upon to do a quilt talk.    I also went to the Associated  Artists Group this week and made it to both FAD and Pixies.   In between that the battery in my car died so when I feel like I have done little or nothing this week, I need to remind myself that there were lots of distortions along with the laundry, shoveling  and …

One other little note, the purple  sweatshirt jacket that was too small for me fit Judy perfectly, so I set it home with her.

 

Progress Report: Scarp Happy I got this piece all put together this week.      The machine step of the binding is in process now too.   I’m working on the hand step of that process. Then  I will need to do additional quilting to complete the job.

Tide Pool   I attached the punch needle work and I am in the middle of adding the yarn  puffs now.   Still lots to do here, but I am enjoying the process.

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt  I started this new lap quilt this week.   When I look at this  I realized  the California fires are effecting me  subconsciously

 

 

 

 

   

New fire   I did indeed start a new fire piece  with one of my last pieces of Judy Roberts fabrics for my base.     It is basted now and I will start the fabric collage work on top this week.

 

Collage/Drawing        In my on line class, Cass challenged us to mix drawing with our collage work.   I can see it is a lot more challenging than I expected .  In my own analogous, I think I need to keep the collage a bit simpler.   But making mistakes is a part of the learning process.

Keep Moving

Carol

Winter Beauty

Hello,

We are really into winter now with lots of snow and shoveling.   One can see changes almost daily from additional snow or interesting melting and wind blown patterns.    I love how the snow can out line the trees some times.   I had to stop and take this photo on my way to a luncheon this week.   Just lovely if one take the time to look .   So  slow down a bit , keep your eyes open and find the beauty of this time of year.

 

Monday this week I helped Sharon and Victoria hang the Trifurcation show at La Moline.

This is Sharon’s newest piece an  it is part of the show.      I really like the shadows it casts to make the work appear more complex.

 

I sent four works off   to the  6X6 fundraiser for the Rochester Art Center yesterday and I meant with the Pixies too.    In addition I listened to the Textile Talk on   Wed.     The weeks just seem to fill up.

 Progress Report: Poinsettia    This work is 12″ X 17″.   It got stretched   and finished this week.     It is a great way to mix drawing with stitch work.

I think I will try a bit of this with some of the work I am doing for the Find Connections class.

 

 

 

Blue Tide Pool   This piece came home form the framers on Wed.   I am very happy with how it came out.     The silk cocoons and hand felted shells are the most unique items on this one.

There is some real shells and coral bits Mom collected  too.

 

 New Tide Pool  I just had to start another one of these works.   I am having too much fun building up the surface  and Ideas keep filling my head.

 

 

Cut& Print   This work has been pinned to the wall for two weeks.    I just could not figure out what was wrong with it.   Then while going through a stack of fabric, I came across this little strip fabric and knew immediately what was wrong.   The  black strip I made was too big to represent the wholes in film.   I think the images need to be on black too.     I am glad I did not push forward, as  I am sure I will be much happier with this solution.

Collages   I have to do collages for my Finding Connections class  so the emphasis is a bit different this week.

 

 

 

 

She is encouraging us to use fabric so I used the cut offs from one of the tide pool bases in the second two works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drawing     I am following through on the second little assignment Cas Holms  gave us for that class and doing a 15 min   drawing study every day in the sketchbooks I  made.   I ‘m having fun.   Playing and exploring is why I Create.

 

 

 

Handwork      I laid out this new fabric collage to do handwork on this week.   The malty colored shapes are all cut aways from one of the  scissors works.   I just loved the fabric and could not bring myself to toss it.

Second Try- Purple Sweatshirt Jacket   When I went to the Rescue Mission with two bags of stuff this week I also popped into the store.     I found a second purple sweatshirt- much larger this time that I will   use to make a second attempt at creating  a jacket.

 

 

New Scrap Happy   I started assembling the third set of rows that I started at the Sisterhood retreat in the fall.   The next Scarp happy will  be a ways off I think.

 

 

The work is enjoyable and I sure find ways to keep at it.

Enjoy the season  and Keep your eyes open.

Carol