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Baby Quilts, Daily's, Dusty Roads, New Iris

Choices June 26, 2014

Flowers Hello,

It is  another  gray and rainy day here.  There are lots of reasons to feel down.  I am having trouble with the tension on my sewing machine.   It is very humid  and my hair is droopy. The sky is gray and all this rain even makes the Martha Washington  Greniums  hang low.  In my effort to empty some of  the excess rainwater from them , I accidenty spilled it all over my feet and my sandels are all wet.  Inspite of  all this stuff I still  feel happy.  I am making progress on my projects even with  the thread problem, because all the rain keeps me in the studio a bit more.  The birds are singing and I even saw one taking a bath in one of the mud puddles on my walk in the rain.  I noted too Dusty-Trailsthe circular patterns of falling rain in one of the puddles and thought it might make a good starting place for a quilting pattern.      So why I feel so good?   I believe it goes back to what my Dad always use to say to me as a kid” It ‘s not what happens to you that matters so much as what you THINK about what happens to you that matters.”    I am choosing to be happy about the possibilites of today.

Progress Report:   Dusty Trails    I am to the quilting stage of this project now.  I was tempted to just quilt in the ditch, but staying in the seam lines with the quilting  seemed like a cop out.  So  I am using is wandering stitch pattern that  reflects the seams instead.  My title has more to do with color than the stitch pattern. New Iris

 New Iris  I am all done with the hand applique of the new leaves and flowers.   I was considering adding some of the fuzzy trim to the flowers as the beards of the iris.   The color has more red in it than the existing flowers but I really like the texture.   I guess it is again a  decision I can only make after I try it  and see how it looks.   That  really is the best approach any way.

baby-quilt New project-Baby Quilt   My niece had a new baby last week  and so I am busy creating a baby quilt for the new child.  He as an older sister so I am putting two teddy  bears on this one.   The three butterflies allow me to add quilting for stability in the sky.  One might also be able to teach a little counting to a little one with this work.

 New work- East Window    I am creating a new window cover for the east room window.     WhenEast-Window I work on these types of quilts I   first  do a wrogh  layout of where I think some fabrics will end up.      I am trying to start quilts now using fabrics I have altered in some way.  This time I used some marbleized  fabric, a piece from the soy wax class, and some painted fabrics.  When I have selected these materials, I chose  things that work with them.     I think of  the second choices as fillers and I cut them into strips of one and a half, two and a half and three and a half inch startssections and sew them into long mixed units.   This method  means I can just add the units  to the fabric sections as I go along and do not have to keep stopping and cutting new fabric.  This method does create some unused material at the end of the assembley.  But I always just add that to my scrap basket and it becomes part East windowof the material I use in my scrap happy quilts that I give as fund raisers .          I always enjoy my time doing the assembly process of quilt construction.

 

 

 Daily News  I have finished the base for the Daily’s now.  It is a black rectangle with 30  black velcro  units on it.   I put the quilt on the door to my studio so I see it first thing every day and my new habit has become to change the layout each morning. Daily-News1Daily News2    Its a fun exercise and it means that I finish  several more  blocks every evening during the news like before.

Daily News2 Keep  Creating

Carol

 

Daily's, Dusty Roads, New Iris

Quarter Moon June 19, 2014

Hello,

This evening we will view the last quarter moon for this month.    I have always wondered why the  cookies that are half choclate and half white are called Half Moon cookies?  silk paperQuarter moon would be more accurate.  Oh well, I know they are all good to eat no matter what they are called.  The other seasonal event this week is Summer Solstice.  That happens on Saturday .  Hurray! Bring on Summer.

I spent last Friday with my friend Susan.  We made silk paper.  Susan is very interested including  text and words in her work,  so I did some experimenting that I might not have tried other wise.   The 3’s are letters on tying paper that are tarped between layers of silk.  Then I thought why not just write words – so I tried my Topsname as you can see.   It is doable.  I will use my name  to make a new name tag to put over my work area at QBL.

Then on Monday I drove down to visit Regina.  She is amazing and I had a wonderful day.  She gave me this stack of sample l dress tops  to play with.  Her techniques is to cut off all the beads and use them in other work.   I do not know just what I will do with them- but I love the challenge.  Regna  lovesSweet-bag texture almost  as much as I do.  This wonderful  little evening bag is a good example of that.     She weaves rag rugs that are all over her house.  She has an embroidery machine and has wonderful examples all over the place too.     I went home with my head spinning full of ideas and aw.

With all my travel I have not done a lot of work in the studio this week, but that seem to be the nature of summer.   I want to be out of doors and enjoy my environment.

New-IrisProgress Report:   New Iris’s     I am adding applique iris on the surface of this quilt now.    I am going to add the greenery first and then the flowers.    I may need more blossems – but I will only know that with lots of looking and thinking.

 Dusty Roads    This was formerly labeled as new work one.   I can see where I am going with it now so it has a name.  This is a good example of many of the surfacing altering techniques I like to use.  There is rust  work,  eraser Dusty-Trailsstamping, silk screen printing, direct painting,  and fabric from the soy dye class in this piece.   The dark brown with the white lines is drawing done with liquid dish washer detergent.   Most of the blue areas on this work are painted interfacing pieces.   I sure had fun mixing all of them  and it made me realize that I do work in color families most of the time.

Daily News   I am working away on the back unit to put my little squares on now with this project.  It is all black so I did not do a photo of it- not very interesting at this point.    When it is done I will start to shoot it with the various squares velcro-ed  on the surface.

Enjoy the beauty of the season.

Keep Creating

Carol

Daily's, New Iris

Tomorrow…..June 12, 2013

roses BJUNE12Worktalble Hello,

I am greeting you with flowers because my husband did the same to me this week.  I enjoy the rich deep color of red roses.

I realized that tomorrow is the full moon and it is Friday the 13.   I wonder how often that happens?

Saterday was our second play date at the Verna Fire Hall.   We again were exploring the Gelli Plate and its many printing wonders.  There were 10 folks this time and only three of us were repeats from the time before.    This shot is of my work table at noon before I fired Pladay2up for my second layer of fun and surprises.   I made a mistake and left half of my paints at home.   But I chose to see that as a challenge and because I did not have any red, orange  or purple all the pieces will work together do to the limited pallet.

I had a wonderful surprise Patti's Squaresyesterday as Patti stopped by.  She presented me with a gift of two of the squares she made using the  fabric yarn I had given to her last week.   She sure is enjoying her new pin loom!   Both  of these squares use the  the same  weff fabric yarn- but the color she used for the woof really makes them appear different.   The black sure tones down the color!

I went to visit Nancy this week too. Nancy's-work She works on a tabletop to lay out her work.   I do realize she has a much more realistic feel for how the project will look on the bed by doing it that way, but I really like working vertically myself.   This quilt will be the summer quilt for her own bed when it is done.  She is building a rainbow layout Bookacross the main part of the bed top with some black and white added in for interest.  This is also the quilt she made the clouds for last week.  They are set to go in the pillow sections of the quilt.    She lent me this book on color to read before I take my color  classes at QBL this summer.  It is written for paintes, but I am enjoying it throughly.   I am sure thankful I live in a time when one can just go purchase paint off the shelf instead of collect the materials, grinding down  the pigments and mix the formulas to get the desired colors.

BJune12SelectionsProgress Report:  New Work One     I thought I should revisit some of the fabrics I made in the soy wax class earlier this spring and use them.  I pulled one and then I noticed how it worked with the rust fabric I did last fall and  a piece of the stencil work I did last winter as well as some stamping work I had done the Layoutwinter before.      So I started this possible lay out.  It was too  monochromatic so  I added some  blue to the  mix.  The blue is from my stash of self embellished fabric too.   Things will surely shift and change from this starting point- but I try to be open to the changes the fabrics suggest as I work along.

possiblites2New Work Two  I piled up a second collection of fabrics as a starting point for yet another new quilt.  It is not “talking” to me in the same way the brown one is so this may not go beyond this point.  I just have  to live with it a bit.

New Iris’s     I was Spring Irisnot happy with the way this  quilt   was going.  It was coming out too much like the first one I did earlier this spring.  So I let it hang on the pin wall for two weeks.  Then  I decided to add another layer to the work.   I painted purple Iris’s Iris'slike the ones I saw in Monet’s garden last month.     I then sewed organza to the  back of the flowers and truned them to create the new blossoms.          That process is very time consuming when the shapes are as complex as these are. It takes about 20 min to do each one.     I will start to applique them to the top of the quilt this week.

 Daily NewsDaily-News

The title of this work has changed because of how I want to finish this work.  I decided I want it to be   a flexible  work that could change.  To that end I have finished these squares off with each of them having a velcro patch in the center of the back of each “block”.   I have only started this process and so I will be doing the flipping of the units and sewing them shut by hand for a while.  Soon I will build a back unit with its own corrisponding velcor units placed four inches apart all over its surface so one can add or subtract any square from any location at any time.  I think I will limit the back unit to 30 squares( or velco  spots)  to invite as many possible playing combinations as possible. ( and one  does not need to fill all the spots)  I hope it is fun to play with  when I am done.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Daily's, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Three Trees

Enjoying the Spring June 5, 2014

ColembineHello,

I have been enjoying being out of doors and doing lots of yard work this week.  Being gone always means lots of catch up for me and that seems to be how I have spent most of my time.  That and meeting with my friends that is.    The first Tuesday of the month was this week so I had the usual QuEG’s  and DivaBarb meetings plus the FAB group has moved to the first of the mouth too.  It is good to see all my friends  and it is very stimulating.

Barb started off the QuEGs meeting  with her three “sliced block” tops.    She sure seemed to be having fun with them.   Then we moved on to Linda who is taking an on- line class where she is doing prep work for a quilt about her Irish Linda's-notebook BJuneLiz's-work Grandfather.   The notebook is a work of art all by it’s self I think.    She is collecting lots of ideas to work from for the project.

Then we looked at Liz’s strip blocks.   It is a memory quilt using  her friends father’s shirts. The  outside  strips of each block  are from the shirts.  The florial  prints in the centers rBJUneSueEllen's-new-fishepresent the friend.

Then we looked at Sue Ellen’s work.  This new fish quilt of hers really is a joyful one I think.   This photo does not show it- but the green has a wonderful reflective quality that really adds to the feel of water in this piece.

Next we Sally's-onelooked at Sally’s wonderful work.  She has finally finished piecing  her “One Block Wonder” top.   I love how she used the fabric in such a way that the quilt goes from light to dark in a Sally's-work machine embroderydiagonal sweep across the top.      She continues to work hard on her Machine Embrodery too.   All the lemons are drawn in thread as is the green sprig and the pie crust.     Her work always blows me away.

After the meeting I drove south and picked up Susan who is now back in Central New York andBJUNE5Sharon we rove to the Diva meeting together. Where I got my second jolt of creative stimulation.   Sharon who is going to graduate school had lots to share. Photos, prints and quilts   as she prepares for the many art  shows she partisipates in during the summer.   She is one busy gal.

BJUNE5-Donna Donna is taking a class in Spirit Cards and this a shot of one of them.   I am sorry that there is so much glaire here.   I like too how all the groups I belong to are so accepting of a wide varitey  of different materials as well as styles.  ANNE's-work

Anne peresented this finished piece at the meeting too.  I think the machine work really adds a lot of secondary interest to the surface.    I admire how she uses her fabrics.

-Susan's-holidaySusan spent six weeks in Mexico and she built this day journal of that event.   She challenged herself to try lots of different techniques on  six inch pellon squares with each square representing an event for each day of the trip.    I think it is a wonderful way to stay on track and to be creative at the same time. This close up shows foil she found in Mexico behind the painted and  cut out pellon sheet.  SUSANcloseup

 

 

 

 

 

 

The FAB group meant this Victoiraweek as well.    I taught them how to make silk paper.  This shot shows Victoria working at that.   Nancy made clouds with the silk roving that she intends to use on her new bed room quilt  as a part of  the sky.

Victoria and I are in a color class later this summer.   She is preparing for that by doing a  bit of progressive dying  for that -Victoria's-colorrun - Copyproject.   I think this color run is great.  It will be fun to use them in class later.

Patti is the Patti's-loomowner of a new pin loom and she has been weaving away.    She loaded it up and started a new project during our meeting.  I can hardly wait to see  the finished piece.

PattiI like all the color that she is using here.     With all the visiting going on, I did not do much work on my own stuff.  I am OK with that one needs to fill the well every now and then.

 

 

 

 Progress

Three Trees and a Singer 21" x21" $80.00
Three Trees and a Singer
21″ x21″
$80.00

Report:  Three Trees and a Singer   The title of this quilt has changed from just Three Trees  to the new one because I added a black bird.   It is very small in this image, but it is there on the far left tree about half way up.  I added the bird last because I thought the work needed a little  reason to look with  a bit more care.

Bird The bird is in this closeup. The trees are all based on pictures  I took  in the winter of  trees in my  backyard.  The trees are all full of leaves now I am glad to say.      The photo to the left here shows all three techniques that I used to create the  trees.     The brown is a woolThree-close up I started with and the black is yarn that I stitched down on top of  the wool.  Then after I had stitched together i sewed it  to the background.   Then  I loaded the bobbin with thick tread and from the back I free motion drew the limbs onto the surface of the quilt.   I enjoyed creating  this quilt.

 

 

 Daily News ( Formerly Daily’s) Daily's  These are the last of my Daily’s.  I say that because I feel I have learned what I needed to from this project.  I am calling the work Daily News because I worked on the pieces every evening  during the time the news was on TV.   Now I have to figure how what to do with the pieces I have created.   I have 240  four and half inch squares.   They are not finished so this can’t be the end.   I do not want them to simply end up in a box and  I do not want to simply sew them together as I have enjoyed placing them next to one another in various arrangements.      I am thinking of several possible solutions and I will spent this week making my final decision about that during this time.  That and planning the next possible mini challenge.

I hope the week ahead is full of good creative time for all.

Hugs

Carol

Daily's, Fundations XIX Mossy Stone, Fundations XX Asurite, Growing in the Dark, Machine Drawing, Paper Quilts, Spring Iris's, Three Trees

Back in the Studio May 29, 2014

Foundations XIX -Mossy Stone 33" X 29" $340.00
Foundations XIX -Mossy Stone
33″ X 29″
$340.00

Hello

It is good to be home and after I recovered from my jet lag I enjoyed getting back into the studio and working.    I think having something partly finished helped me get started too.   So I will jump into the Progress Report.

Progress Report: Foundations XIX Mossy Stone   As this image shows I am now done with this quilt.      I am not sure about Mossy Stone-cl2how to declare the size, but have settled on measuring the distance at the longest points to  come up with the numbers.   This quilt  has a very large number of fabrics in it as well as threads, yarns  and some silk paper.   I enjoy the extensive thread work that finishing the quilts in this series requires.   The thread patterns create nice direction and flow directions  to Mossy-stone-cl3my eye  and when I get to that step it is almost meditative in nature when I am working away at it.    I do not see the end of this series any time soon- it is just too much fun to see how many fabrics I can use and how many textures I can include in the process.

 

 

 

Growing in the Dark – Paper Quilt  

Growing in the Dark Paper Quilt 16" X 21"
Growing in the Dark
Paper Quilt
16″ X 21″

 

I took a  day workshop in  using the Gelli plate on the weekend before I went off to Paris.  I  made a lot of  wonderful paper and fabric printed images.  I decided to challenge myself and use some of them to do paper quilts again.  I have not done that style growing in the dark -cl2in over two years so it was a bit of a challenge just to recall the process.   The Gelli Plate process is full of chance and I really like that aspect of  using them.  Paper is in the bottom section of this shot   and fabric in the top- they do take the paint /ink differently , but I like them both.    This work because of the nature of the stiffness of the paper Growing-in-the-dark-cl1requires  that one work smaller.  I can only roll so much under the machine arm.  The paper  also is a much flatter material  so it goes together much more quickly .  I added in some of the silk paper as you can see here and it works well with the  other materials.  I have pulled another pile of paper and fabric from the workshop to start another soon.

 

 

 

three-trees

 

 Three Trees   This work is coming along.  I made the base of the trees on wash away with a dark gray green  wool and then added black yarn on top with machine stitching.  I then trimmed the  away as much of the wash away as I could before I submerged them in  back-of-3-treeshot water.  When they were dry I arranged the trees on the surface and sewed them down.   I loaded my bobbin with brown embroidery thread and the top of my machine with black.   I turned the quilt over and did free motion drawing of smaller branches in the trees using the outlines of applying the trees to the top as my three-trees close up 2guide.    This shot of the back of the quilt helps show what I did.    This closeup shows all three processes.  The dark green is the wool, the black is the  yarn and the brown is the thread.  This project  proved to be a very good way to get back into the free motion process for me.

 

 

 

AsuriteFoundations XX- Asurite  This is my new inspiration stone for the new work in the series.   The first step is to cut the bucrum in the shape of the stone.  Then I  start pinning the background  fabrics to the surface.  Asuritestart   I did the light area first this time and used two different blues and some hand dyed that had blue, white and gray in Pileit.  I then pulled  a pile of blue fabrics that I thought could work and piled them on the floor below the BM29Pinned-Asuritepinwall.  Having them at my feet meant I could pin look down and cut the next piece I wanted with ease.   I continued building on the surface until I had the whole color areas built  in.    The next step was to begin to Asurite close upstitch and pin more into the work and start to build the surface.  I like to work in this free form way and let the process guide me along.  It does mean that I stop and pin the work up frequently and look at the work, but I like that step  as well.

 

Spring Iris BM29-Spring-Iriscl1 Spring Iris   I am doing the free motion outline step of this work now.    I was so happy to see the Iris in Monet’s garden and I took a lot of photos.  I think I will try to add a  bit of applique on top with the photos in mind.   I am not sure how I will do this yet- but I am thinking on the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Canvas   red-canvus I started the painting process of this work in the fall as a play day with Cheri.     Seeing the great way she used what we started that day at the Diva Meeting  in March got me to pull the canvases I had created out again.  I cut them up and then zig zagged them back to create a bigger unit.  I then painted on top again to add more depth.  I was still not happy.  So I have now done some hand work and I think I am nearing completion.  I added beads, buttons and some altered metal to the  red canvas close upsurface.   I need some assistance as to how to finish this work  so I will take it to the Diva meeting and get some help.

 

 

Daily's Daily’s     I think I am done with this series as far as making the little units is concerned.  I have eight more and that will complete the thirty blocks I have with the two triangles on them.   I have done this daily work for eight months and feel I am ready to find and ending place and move on.  I will take this week as I finish the blocks to decide on a way to complete the project and to think about a new daily or weekly challenge.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Uncategorized

Paris in the Spring Time

Notra-Dame  Hello,

I have not been home 24 hours yet and I am still a bit out of it as far as time is concerned, but I enjoyed myself a lot on this trip.   We got ourselves settled in  at the Hotel Atlantic and went of a Metro trip to  the center of Paris and walked to Notre Dame Cathedral.   It is much larger than one expects and all the carving in the stone is amazing as well

Monet's-gardenas a wonderful interior.  We ended up walking all the way around the building.    We ate dinner on the south bank of the Seine and enjoyed watching the tourists stroll by us in our outside cafe.    The second full day we got on board the train and went out of Paris to see Monet’s home.   This photo is of his garden pool.    There were so many colors and textures.  All the gardens  were so very beautiful with purple rose and lots of iris in bloom.  I took tones of photos and know that I will use some of them as jumping off places for new work.    You could not take any photos in the house, but it was  a grand  feast for the eye as well.

Then next day we went to the -Antique-market antique  market.    This shot of the diving helmet is only one of the many wonderful items we looked at.  Jen is an a dealer and she knew some of the  booths we visited.  She was the only one who purchased anything, but it was like visiting a museum where one could get really close and even touch the displays.    Jen was also our French speaker and that made our visit so much easier!    She  is fearless about Paris and  willing to just take off in new directions so that we  tried areas of the city that even she,  in her seven Sculptureyears of travel there,  had never ventured into.    This wonderful sculpture was in the square where we  went underground for the metro every day at the St-Lazare station.  It also served as our marker when we came home in the evenings- a welcome sight that told us we were close to home.   Jen had enough confidence in us  to send us home on the Metro without her on the third day.

The-Louvera Went to the Grand Promade the next day  and started our walk to the Louvre with Nepolian’s  Egyptian Obelisque.       The visual feast of the Louvre is amazing.  We did see the Mona Lisa and spent the morning looking at paintings.  After lunch we walked many gallery’s full of marble statuary.  I thought this face was very lovely- but I have so many photos that again it was hard to choose just one to present.   Barb     We then went down to the Seine and took a boat curse.  We got off  walked up to the  Eiffel Tower  along the river enjoying the parks, the bridges  and the sun set along the way.     This shot is of Barb holding up one of the scuptures- even though I did  not hide the base at all.  It is a good shot of how happy we all felt about the weather and the experience.     Everywhere I -Eiffel-towerlooked there were textures and images that I just enjoyed.

It was 9:00 in the evening when I took this shot of the Eiffel   Tower with all the sparkling lights going off  at dusk.  It was beautiful and  great to watch.   I was so glad that we waited until evening to see this  and did not visit the tower earlier.

We went to  visit one of the biggest and oldest cemeteries in Paris the next day- Cimetier Du Pere Lachaise.    CemetaryThe stone work there was wonderful too.   Every bit of land was packed with muslims.   They represented  about 250 years of different types of grave types used Ceramic-flowers in Paris.  I was espically  fasinated by the ceramic wreaths.     There were many types of flowers represented from roses and poppies to violets.  The ceramic work was so very thin as these roses show.  Many flowers showed the effects of pollution and were black- but that could be rubbed off. -Arch-de-TriompheWe only experienced one day of rain on our trip- that was on  Tuesday before we came home.    We spent that day shopping at all the stores on Avenue De Champs and Checking out the Arc de Triomphe.   It is having some work done on the top so I cut that off in this photo.  Again wonderful stone work  here.

Every day we walked Stairsthe staircase in our hotel. We were on the fourth floor and I just loved looking down.    We decided we liked the back stairs the most as the wood  did not seem to be as worn as the front stair.    I did take my pedometer and we counted the steps each day.  They were Roof-topsall well beyond 10,000  and one day we did almost  15,000.     I loved all the different roof lines and doorways.    It was a very enjoyable trip and I have lots of great memories as well as a ton of photos.

Hugs

Carol

Daily's, Diva Meetings, Foundations XVII Granite, Foundations XVII Obsidian, Foundations XVIII Rusty, New Iris

National Choclate Chip Day May 8, 2014

Hello,

I hope everyone is enjoying a choclate chip cookie today.  What a wonderfully silly thing to make a national day.  Not sure of the origian of this idea, but I am sure  the cooks approve.  As do those of us who will eat a cookie for any reason.

BM8SueEllenThis week contained the first Tuesday of the mouth so I had meetings.   The  QuEG’s  meeting was  great with lots of show and tell.  Sue Ellen showed us this wonderful book/ album/portfolio of all of the fish quilts she has done this year.  What a great wayCorrinie to present your work.     Corrinie is not beading on this wall piece.  I sure love the semenate.    Linda and I showed the  fabrics we had created in the soy dyeing class from last month.

Anne work1Then it was off to the Diva meeting on Tuesday evening.     Anne and Ruth had both taken a workshop with Gwen Marsdon.  This first one is Anne’s take on the processes.   I like how crisp and clean Anne’s work always is.  She limits her color and uses it so very well- something that I could afford to learn a little be more of.

Ruth chose to try all the techniques and plans to assemble them into a samplerRuthall type thing when  she is done.    As is usually true in a class each person puts their own stamp on the final outcome. They both had a good time too.Donna

Spring seems to bring a lot of workshops to all of us as Donna took one as well on Encostics.   She came away with three wonderful images and I found it difficult choosing the one I liked best to show here.

Liese continues to wow Save-the-waterus with her wonderful little dioramas.    This one she finished up on Earth Day (April 22) and it is her statement about all the pollution in our Oceans.     I really enjoy her little people- they are so very animated and full of life.   She told us this work was the center piece for the dinner table on Earth day too.

This meeting marked my fifth anniversay with this very diverse group of gals.  I so enjoy them and I drive home with my mind spinning with new ideas and inspirations every time.

Foundations XVII Obsidian 34" X 33.5 $400.00
Foundations XVII Obsidian
34″ X 33.5
$400.00

Progress Report: Foundations XVII Obsidian   This quilt has many different fabrics in it.  I used some denim from my husbands pants in one area.  There is velvet, silk, cotton, taffata and nylon fabric here too.   I made my choices based on  the  colors  that I saw in the rock  ( there are lots of reflections due to the nature of the stone)  – it did not matter what type of material it was.     The process alsoObsidian cl1 involved some fibers that  I purchased years ago  without any knowledge of the content or type.  I was delighted by the color Obsidian close up 2then and I still am.    I am glad to finally find a home for some of them.      There is some aposistory fabrics in this too.   the textured gray black show here was on the piano seat  Mom covered when I was in Jr high.      I m glad to find a home for it too.ObsidianCl3

 

 

 

 

Foundations XVIII - Rust 26" X 42" $385.00
Foundations XVIII – Rust
26″ X 42″
$385.00

 Foundations XVIII – Rusty    This quilt has lots of old fabric that was intended to become clothing.  The rust colored wool was  purchased for an a-line skirt.     I am still struggling with  the  irregular shape and the high point at the top of this quilt  is still a problem   here.  I though I had it sloved, but that proved not to be the case.  I plan to add some stays in to that section today.  I am not surprised  as there are always new problems withRustycl1 unexplored territioy.    This first close up shows some fabric that I rust dyed.  I did break a needle when I tried to  free motion through the three layers of the Rusty close up2rust dyed fabric.  I do not know why, but I fear that even though I did wash it when I finished the fabric there still could contain a bit of  residue .    Again I used lots of different fabrics on this piece.  Wool, velvet, cotton and the back side of taffata can be seen here.   I am enjoying the process.Rusty cl3

Maya's-quiltMaya’s  Tee Shirt Quilt    I finished this quilt this week  too.    It took me   four hours to do the hand stitching on the binding of this project.     It is a queen sized quilt.    The free motion work  Maya's close up on the blocks was the most enjoyable part for me.

 

 

 

New-IrisNew Iris’s     This top is now ready for the quilting step.  It is a little too much like a very nice background at this point so I will  need to think carefully about how to go forward on this  project.

 

 Foundations XIX –     Foundations XIX stone  This is the new pinned up section for the next work.  I love the wonderful moss green fabric that Noel gave me a few weeks ago.   This mossy stone is  the outgrowth of that feeling.   I feel the striped fabric that is the base for this one is still too strong so I will keep building on top of it.

Daily'sDaily’s       My  storage box for these little exercises is almost too full so I think I will end this series soon.    I want to move on to another idea as well.

Keep Creating.

Carol

PS  I am off to spend a week in Paris so there will be no post next week.  Look for lots of pictures the following week.

Daily's, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Foundation XV New Direction, Foundations Series, Foundations XVII Granite, Foundations XVII Obsidian, Maya's Tee Shirt Quilt

May Day, May 1 2014

Hello,

Happy May Day to you.  For me May Day brings up memories of making paper  tube baskets that we filled with wild flowers and perhaps a bit of candy.   Then we hung them on the door knobs ofPatti = weaving BM1Victori's-Quit neihbors homes.   That was when I lived in a small town in Iowa and I am not sure if that practice still goes on today.

I went to a FAB meeting last week.   Patti is being very propductive and had a wonderful rust colored ribbon knitted project she was working on as well as having completed this wonderful shaw on her loom.

We also looked at and talked about Victoria’s silver leaf quilt that was pinned to her studio wall.   She is setting quite a challenge for herself with this project I think.   But it will be wonderful when she is done I am sure.

Linda

Then I went to Angela’s where she and Linda were playing with soy wax for a second time.     Linda spent the whole time doing the waxing step, but Angela did apply  dye while I was there.  She had dyed several things earlier that day and then added more soy wax and black dye over the blue to what she is doing here.     I can hardly wait Angelauntil next week to see the results of their work at the QuEGs meeting. There will be another soy wax day I am sure so perhaps I will get in on that one.

Progress Report:  Foundations XV- New Directions    This quilt is the first of the irregular shaped quilts that I have finished.  I think I mentioned last week

Foundations XV New Directions 27"X 44" $360.00
Foundations XV New Directions
27″X 44″
$360.00

that there were problems with getting it to remain flat.  The paint I add to the back to stabilise that some what.  But  I feel the there is  still is a bit of a Foundations XV new directions cl1problem.   I plan to take it to the art quilt meetings next week and get some help with that.     I really enjoyed all all the color  and the the many textures that New Direction Cl2ended up  in this quilt.  I find myself looking and looking again at it on my wall.    I used a varigated thread on this work too and that adds an additional interest to the surface of the piece.

Foundations XVI Granite 19" X 29" $195.00
Foundations XVI Granite
19″ X 29″
$195.00

 

Foundations XVI- Granite  I also finished off this work this week too.    It was too far along to adapt to the off square format, but I usually think of granite in a square shape any way.   Even tumbe stones   are a slab most of the time.   I do not think I have ever seen Granite  when in was not”dressed” in some way or another.    There are  lots of colors in granite and I tried to show that with this BM1Granitecl2project.    I used  mostly silks, velvets  and satians along with the a few cottons in this project.  Again I used lots of varigated threads here as well.      I also used  some of the silk paper with this piece. Foundations XVI Granite cl1

 

 

 

 

Foundations XVII Obsidian cl1 Foundations XVII- Obsidian

 

I am only showing a close up of Obsidian as it is so close to being completed that the full thing will be available next week.   I was working on so many pieces in the Foundations series at one time that I got mixed up about the number system.  This really is the 17 in the series and not Granite as it says in the Categories.     I will have to wait until I have another lesion from the computer specialist before I can correct that mistake.

Maya’s Tee Shirt QuiltMaya's-Quilt close up    I am to what I consider the fun part of this quilt now.  I did stitch in the ditch between all the tee shirt sections.  Now I am doing free motion around the images.  This one is in the center of the quilt and I will work out from there until they are all completed.  I only did the free motion work on two more before I ran out of time yesterday.

Necklace-3Necklace III    I am still playing in this format.  I love making the flower format.  This one also has unique metal connections on the ends( the black units)  They are old belt connections from Grandmother Ruth’s sewing box.    I think they add a bit of glamer to the work.

New Work New-work  In and effort to  push myself beyond the necklaces I created a new work that needs a lot of hand embellishing on it.   I went to my texture box and found the silver fabric already backed with wonder under and added it to the surface of some of the watermarked satin I had pulled up to make flowers.  Then I found the ground cloth with lumier paint on it and added that to the surface as well.  I just kept adding until I felt that I could only finish it with hand work….. but I have not started that yet my attempt to fool myself did not work.  At least not yet.

newIrisNew Iris Work

This also came out of the idea box and I started it because I was in the studio at the end of the day and the pin wall was empty.   The Iris fabric was already cut so it was just a matter of pinning up what I had already done.

Daily'sDaily’s       More of similar works as last week.   I plan to work ahead this week as I am preparing for a week trip to Paris o n May 14th.   I do not think I want to take this project with me, so that is my solution.

Keep Creating

Carol

Daily's, Fabric Flowers, Foundation XV New Direction, Foundations XVII Granite, Mia's Tee shirt quilt, Uncategorized

Birthday April 24, 2014

-daycard  Hello,

Today is my birthday and this wonderful hand made card arrived from my great friend Barbara with birthday wishes in it..  The card sure makes me feel loved- and it delights my eye too.

Spring is finally a part of central New York.  I was awakened by a bird singing at 4:10 this morning- but I am not complaining-  Just surprised to hear him singing up the sun so early.  There are so many tints and shades of green that it dassel the eye now.  Things here are changing so very fast. Necklace-2 It was raining yesterday and so I did not walk out doors.  But when  I went today I could see changes in the buds of many of the plants that I had looked at just two days before.  One can almost see the plants growing.   I love it!

I am still making fabric flowers from  Noel’s workshop last week.    It is just Necklace1so much fun to use those little scarps of silk in such beautiful ways that I can’t seem to stop.    The “What If  Factor ” is kicking in too and I think my work tray has as many new flowers on it as these two necklaces put together.    Now I am also trying Yoyo flowers- like Cheri did and   I can’t think why wide silk ribbons would not work too, as well as the silky hem tape I seems to have lots of …..  Oh the mind- it  just keeps pumping out possibilites.Foundations-XV

Progress Report:  Foundation XV New Direction  I am nearly finished with this project.  I like all the colors I have be able to use here and feel that I have New-Direction-close-upadded a lot of machine work to the surface.    By making this one irregular in shape I have created a new problem for myself- it does not hang flat at the end of some of the horizional extensions.     That is why I am not showing a full shot this week.  I will work on this problem and get back to you.

 Foundation XVI   GraniteFoundationsXVII-granite

 

  This one is almost done too and because it is a rectangle it does not have the hanging problem of New Directions.   I am still in the” look and see”   stage with this one so that is why there is not a full shot of it either.    ( If you want a good idea of that look at last week)   I am very happy with the flow lines of the free motion work however.

 

  obsidian1Foundation XVII Obsidian   I have wanted to do a piece that is all shades of black and gray so I started this last week.    I  like the rock  Obsidian and how it  seems to have such strong angles in the surfaces that I used it as my inspiration for this project.  It is the second irregular shaped one. Foundations-XVI-Obisidian And lest anyone start to believe I just know how I want things to be placed, I shot this photo the first day I worked on pinning things up.  I thought it was too busy the next morning so I took half the stuff off and started a second time. ( And yes, it us inverted too)    I have used many different fabrics here.  Everything from corduroy and cotton to velvet and silks to get the various  tones of black.    I enjoy how the color changes bepending on what it is next to.  I am enjoying the free motion work now too.New-work

Foundations XVIII-New Work    When I went to play with Noel last week she gave me a box full of wonderful earth toned fabric.  I am using it as my jumping off point for this next Foundations work.  The big piece of rusty wool is so very rich that I am enjoying working with it.

Daily's Daily’s   I am still working away on the Daily’s and they continue to be a calming enjoyment.  So here is the showing for this week.

I hope that spring is dancing at everyone ‘s door and bringing lots of new visuals to everyone too.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Daily's, Foundation XV New Direction, Mia's Tee shirt quilt, Trees, Wind Fall

Flowers April 17, 2014

1 Comment

Crockuses Hello,

Spring is teasing us here  in central New York.  It was so very nice and warm for three days and then we had a  cold day that ended in a snowstorm.   I am waiting for my spring flowers to appear.     The day that it snowed I took matters into my own hands and spent the day with Noel in her studio along with several others and we madeCherri's-flowers our own flowers.    (look back two weeks to see Noel and Victoria’s  first ones)   It always amazes me how we human beings fliter and  apply our own tastes to the same processes.     These red, pink and purple blossems are Cheri’s and the black, tan and Noel's-flowerswhite ones are Noel’s.       We  all took the same basic materials and techhniques  but treated them with our own unique “stamp”.    Noel showed us how to create several types of flowers and then turned us loose. Victoria    Victoria, like Noel had made flowers before,  she cheerfully tried a complex rose type flower where each petal is made indavigaly.     I can hardly wait to see how everyone finishes her  necklace.     I was so excited by the processes that I kept making more flowers for the next two evenings.   I am sure I will have two or three necklaces even if I stopped with what I have.  I did take the time to lay out one possible my-Flowerscombination.  It needs small additions like  beads and buttons.   I just keep thinking of more ways to play with these ideas.   And recalling things I did not try yet like yoyo flowers   that Cherri  did.    It sure  was a wonderful way to combat the snow falling outside that day!

Foundations-XVNew-DirProgress Report:  Foundations XV –New Direction   I am still struggling with this project.  I have added to the sides to pull away from the square format.  Then  this morning when I hung it on the wall- “What If” – hit Foundatons-XV#1and I turned it 45 degrees to the right and I liked it better- and even more so when I added to the those two sides as well. I try to always be open to what is happening while I am designing and wonderful things can happen.    I will push myself to do the remaining work on this one over the next few days.

 

New work1New Work   I am still playing with this newest member of the  Foundation series.     This one  does not seem to know what way is up yet either- but I am enjoying the process.    I do think I will   leaves this one in a basic square format even though I am trying to go beyond that idea.     It is holding it’s own without that  challenge. Grove

Grove    I am making progress here too.  All the trees now have their horizontal branches.  I have them all connected to one another but I feel that it is almost too much to take in visually.   The blue below the trees is too busy as well,  so I plan to remove it and try again.   I just don’t know what will work until I try it sometimes. Mia's-back

 Mia’s Quilt    These green and blue pieces are my prepations for the back of Mia’s Tee shirt quilt.  I am building the units and when they are big enough I will assemble them into the big back.  It is a fun process from my point of view.

Daily's                      Daily’s    I am finding time to do my Daily’s too.  They are starting to really pile up.

Think Spring and Keep Creating

Carol