All posts by admin

Fall in the air

Hello,

As the photo shows we are beginning to see signs of a seasonal change here in Central New York.     This week has been one of cool nights and pleasant days too.  I seem to being doing lots of cleaning of the nest in prep for the winter as well.  It has been a quiet one for me with only a Pixie meeting yesterday.

I did a second Dragonfly collage  as my insect study this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Lap # 13   I had fun making this lap quilt as I had a good friend in mind as the recipient the whole time.

 

 

 

 

 

The silks that I used in it were from another friend too so it was a double joy..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rework project   I did this work for a gal last year.  She intended to frame it, but changed her mind so she brought it back and I added quilting and made it into a wall quilt.  I will add the sleve this eve and be done.

 

 

 

Earth Works  This quilt is moving along slowly as I must trace and cut each piece that builds on top so they fit.   I do like how it is growing though.  I am developing a labeling process along the way so I can keep adding layers.

 

Ethe Scrap This project got put away for a while and only resurfaced a few weeks ago.  I just keep assembling the scraps and making new squares.  This week I decided to start pairing the scarp squares with solids that will be used to build the blocks for this work.

 Felting   This project got pushed to the side for a while and resurfaced this week when I had more time.   I like how it is going too.

 

 

 

Raven Pillow    I did this needle point years ago and like so many things just got put away.   When It resurfaced I decided to make it into a pillow.   It got completed this week.

 Handwork  I am enjoying outlining  the printed images with this little project.   It sure is a “no think ” project.

Enjoy the changing season and

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

Moving Forward

  Hello,

The cone flowers are fading and  the Rose of Sharon’s and Black Eyed Susan’s are in their glory.   But I did spot these few leaves that are pointing toward the fast approaching fall.    I can’t believe we are in the middle of  Aug already.     It was a busy week for me  with a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting on Sat.    It was very stimulating as usual.    I am always amazed at the wide creative expressions in that group.

 

 

Liz showed us her wonderful hand work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce shared several baskets and a doll she had created.

 

 

 

Deb had a Cubist style  set of portraits to share.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan has finished assembling the top she was working on at QBL.  It is a cut up and rework of an old project.

 

 

 

 

 

Joan is doing  wonderful painting mixed with great fabric collage quilting work here.

It was a great meeting.

I also had a Pixie meeting this week and we had a good talk.

 

Progress Report:  Lap # 12     This is the first quilt in a long time that does not have any of the fabric that printed for the 100 Day Challenge in it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I did use lots of stuff that I had altered though.

 

 

 

 

Reggie’s Quilt   At QBL, Reggie specialized in assembling  blocks that she had picked up over the years.   She gave me this top all put together and I  did the quilting.  I am working on the binding now and plan to add it to my lap quilt stash.   My granddaughter has agreed to take them to the nursing home were she worked for me to go to folks in the wheel chairs there.

Elizabeth’s paintings   When Marty and I went to Maine to visit Elizabeth Bush she gave us both some of her little canvas paintings.  “Use then as you please ,”she said.    I finally decided to turn them into cards to mail to folks.

 

 

College Insect – Praying Mantis    The pixie subject of Insects to Animals in still in effect  so I continued my study.  This collage is done with a ball point pen drawing on top.

 

 

Jeans   The work goes on with this project.  I thought I could use the machine drawn flowers that I had purchased from Amanda on the jeans, but their is not enough contrast.

 

 

 

 

 

 So I saved a blouse that had a big black spot on the front with the flowers and continue to add stitches to the legs.

 

 

 

 

 

Handwork Napkin   I worked on this while I listened to the SAQA lecture on Wed.  It was a good talk and I am finished with the handwork on this project

 

 

 

New Work I was fascinated by the bark on one of the trees at QBL  So I took a lot of photos.  The bark pulled away and split as the tree grew.     I though I could use that idea as a jumping off place for a quilt and so here goes.   First I pulled the fabrics I want to use.

 

 

 

Then I started cutting and pinning.   You will have to stay tuned to see were this goes.

Keep Creating

Carol

Art, Garden and Sustainability Trail

Hello,

Our neiborhood had its first be event on Sat.  The weather was beautiful and the day stayed cool.  I set up my booth  and my first action was a trade with a fellow crafter.  I got a beautiful piece of pottery and she got a quilt.

I had a very successful day I think as I sold 19 little works.

 

 

 

I had a FAD meeting yesterday  and we spent the whole time out of doors enjoying Patti’s garden and all the birds at her feeder.

 

 

 

 

 

I also had a Pixie meeting yesterday.    For that I had completed a Celtic R for Robert’s pillow.   All the pillows went into the mail yesterday too.

 

 

Progress Report: After Effects  I finished this 34″ w X 42″t piece yesterday. I stared this at QBL and  I added more trees after I got home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 11 I am almost done using fabrics that I printed for the SAQA 100 Day Challenge.

 

The big orange on tan are the prints I did for that project.

 

 

 

 

Pillow.     This pillow got completed this week.  It too is a whole cloth print I did on the 100 Day Challenge.

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt # 12  I stated a new lap quilt as soon as I moved to the quilting step this week.

 

 

 

Collage – insect  The Pixies have an assignment for the month of Aug and it is to use Insects in your art.  I did my first collage in a few weeks and I drew my insect on top.

 

 

 

 

Handwork    Amada suggested in class that we apply some hand work to the surfaces we created.  I did start this the last day of class. I think the handwork is done now.  I think I will apply it to a surface to feature it on a bag or something.

 

 

Jeans   I also purchased some of Amanda McCarvour’s   machine drawn flowers  and decided to apply them to a pair of my favorite jeans that are starting to show wear.  I have added some blue jean patches too.

 

QBL plus

 Hello,

It has been a busy three weeks sense I last wrote a message  with lots of events.   Summer is in full force here and  very beautiful.   I am looking forward to the Art, Garden and Sustainability  Trail that will be taking place in my nationhood this Sat.    More about that next week.

First I want to talk about Quilting by the Lake 2023.    This year, its 37th,  the event took place at Wells College in Arura NY.  The college is in a splendid  setting  on beautiful Cayuga Lake.   Several folks went swimming in the lake too. The campus has lots of gracious  old building and as it runs along the lake edge there are lots of ups and downs.

This is a shot of my dorm.  I was in the front corner room,  level one with two windows.  We spent several evenings on the balcony stitching during the week.

There was also a very large and comfortable parlor were we worked to put together a puzzle week two. It had 2,000 pieces and we did not complete the task, so I broth it home and I plan to bring it week one next year so we can get the whole thing done.   This shot is of Lori and Reggi early on in the process.

This is how far we got before we had to dismantle it for travel.

 

Week one I was in independent study with  a dozen other gals.

 

 

 

 

Nancy finished this top, a quilt and did some machine drawing of a Goldfinch.

 

 

 

 

 

Reggie, who specializes in picking up finished blocks  and making tops out of them, did five during the week.   This one is make up of Dear Jane  blocks.  One   of 4.5″ block had 49 hand pieced units in it.

 

These pineapple blocks were done by another gal in studio and they got completely assembled as a quilt top for her grandson.

 

 

Rachel Clark taught a coat making class in our building week one and also gave the opening lecture.  It was inspiring.

 

 

 

 

Week one ended with show and tell in the dinning room.

This is a shot of a few folks from Irene Rodrick’s class ” Dancing with the Wall. ”

I went home and did laundry before returning on Sunday for week 2 and my class with Amanda McCarver.

Our class was was working with wash away  and roving to create different effects.   We did lots of little experiments and I learned a lot.    I am sure I will apply what I have learned to my work in the future.    This  a shot of the Solvy sandwich  with roving, yarn and loose threads before machine work is applied.

Here are my works for the first three days.

 

 

More experiments.

 

 

 

 

 

We  also had a quilt show that was of work of the Finger Lakes Fiber Art’s group.     This shot is Victor’s Work  from the show.

There was an event every night that included a trip to the Schweinfurth to see the Nancy Crow show were she gave a lecture.  We visited a local farm were there was a talk on antique quilts  and both weeks had a night were we gathered around the fire pit and made  Smores.  This shot is of Davana enjoying hers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Liz  too.

We had good time and made some new friends and enjoyed our old friends too.

 

 

 

 

Week II of QBL completed with show and tell and the Apron Auction.

 

This shot is of Elsa and her Blue Bird.    She was in David Taylor’s class.

 

 

The Apron Auction was lots of fun with lots of silliness.    The money goes to the Scholarship Fund, a very worth while cause.

It was a bit sad to see it all end, but I enjoyed myself as did many others.

Tue was the Aug Diva meeting.

 

Most of the time was spent talking of how we will finish up the “Together We Rise Project.”   This is Lori’s entry.

 

 

 

 

Mary  reworked hers as she did not feel that the burbles read well.    I think the balloons do a great job.

 

 

 

 

 

Mary also had a great self directed project.  She is still working through some of the fabric’s she purchased when she traveled to Africa.

 

Her beading adds an extra layer of interest.

 

We visited the Rock Garden Art show at the Homer Art Center while we were there.       Terrie had four little cityscapes .  There were all fun.

 

Cheri had four more of her wonderful prints in the show too.     I really like what she is doing now.

 

 

 

 

 

I also had a Pixie meeting yesterday and enjoyed catching up with those folks.  Our new assignment is to do something with insects.  I need to finish my lettering for that too.   I did an L and an S    at  QBL that I plan to turn  them  into pillows this week .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Wild Fire in Whisky Hollow   This work is  35″ w  X35″ t.  I did this in indigent study at QBL.    I did the binding and  sleeve after I got home.     With this work I really wanted to show a green tree paired with one on fire.    I saw and image like this in my check in with the wild fires in Canada that week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Fire  I was struck by the destruction  of the fires and what remains afterward , so I made this quilt as it is a part of the story too.   I think is needs more work so it is not completed yet.

 

 

 

 

Handwork   This is what I worked on during QBL while setting on the balcony of my dorm .   It is moving along.

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt #11    I finished this top before I went off to QBL.  That seems like a long time ago to me now.    On to the layering and quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy    I assembled and quilted this quilt tis week in preparation for the local  Art, Garden and Sustainability  Trail on Sat.   I will  deliver it to one of the organizer this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

It has been a busy time , but I have enjoyed it all.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

 

Moving Along

 Hello,

Summer is moving along and the world here continues to stay green and lively.  While I was trimming the hedge on the west side of our house I spotted these tiny mushrooms.    The are like little beads.

This week I had two meetings.   The Quilt Diva’s meant on Tue.  It was a lively meeting with lots of great work.

Alice shared more of her bottom line works.

 

 

Tis is her thirteenth piece in this on going series.   

 

Cheri has now finished her piece for the “Together We Move Forward ” challenge.     I like her solution.

 

 

 

The Pixies also meant this week.  Our challenge for this month is to do work with letters.  This is my solution  for the first week.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Prepared  I have now started to quilt this project.  All the purple areas are done and I and now doing meander quilting on the yellow orange and yellow green areas.

Scrap Happy   I am now building the scrappy back for this quilt.    I am really using up my leftovers.

 

 

 

 

Blue Beach    This work is now complete. It is very heavy  with all those buttons.

 

 

 

 

 

Handwork   I am now doing a new handwork project as Blue Beach is done.

 

 

 

 

 

Felting   I only put in a mi mum amount of time on this project this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New work     Well, I have good intentions here.   Hopefully I will get  going soon.  It will be another lap quilt.   Only a few more pieces from the  SAQA 100 Day Challenge left.

 

 

I will be going off to Quilting by the Lake this week so there will not be any posts for two week.  I am looking forward to seeing old friends and getting some new ideas.

Stay safe

Carol

 

Summer Time

 Hello,

 

It is full summer time here.    I enjoyed Fireworks along with my friends  and was out doors a lot this week.   I went to the Towpath quilt show on Sat and  enjoyed the work of many hands.

 

I got to see Noel’s  pieces for the group challenge.  Participants got a line from The Night Before Christmas” to illustrate.     I think she did a great job.

 

 

 

 

  There was lots of wonderful work.  I was fascinated by this quilt where  the artists had added ink tense color to her embordered work.   It was a great show and there were lots of good pieces.

 

 

 

I also had a pixie meeting this week.  We are challenging  ourselves to use letter or text in our work this month.   I did join the SAQA Strolling Along  45 day Challenge on July 1 too.  I am using Prepared as my first emphasis.

Progress Report: Prepared   This is the 5th in the Split Compliment series.   It is all assembled and ready for quilting at this point.

 

 

 

Collage    I did my collage work this week as usual.   This is were I did my Letters for the Pixie challenge with this orange work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did add some drawing with this second collage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Beach   I have decided that this work is complete now.  I only need to add a sleeve and labels  and it is done.

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy    Our nationhood is having a Art and Garden show in early Augusts and I told them a few month ago I would donate a quilt for them to raffle off.  I had forgotten about that commitment until I saw the advertisement.   it has taken a bit of a effort, but the blocks got assembled and put into rows this week.  I will make a back and put the work together this week as I want to have it done before QBL on the 16 of July.

New Work  Sense I can see the end of a the Prepared work, I pulled some more of the printed fabric from the SAQA 100 day challenge pile and that was the starting point for the colors  for this project.

Enjoy the summer.

Carol

 

 

 

Home from Maine

Hello,

I had a great time in Maine visiting with old friends.     This is a shot of the view from our lunch table on the first day of summer.    Elizabeth was a great hostess and both Marty and I enjoyed talking old times with her.

She generously gave me a quilt to take to QBL to sell to raise funds for the Scholarship Fund.    It is a real beauty I think.     We also had lunch with an old friend in Portland on our way home.  The final stop of the trip was at The Clark museum to view the Edvard Munch show there.  It was great!   It was a show of his landscapes and most of the work was new to me.  We spent two and a half hours in the exbibit.   We then went off to look at the perinate show.  We walked in and then looked at each other and declared we were visually “full”.     So we got in the car and drove west.  We talked of the show on the way home and I am so glad we had a chance to view it.

I had a Pixie meeting and a FAD meeting this week too.  It has been a busy two weeks for me.

Progress Report:   Conflict     The work is 43″ w X  32″ t.     This  work is finally complete.  I struggled with the orientation of this work.    With the help of my FAD friends I finally settled on what you see here. It is not the way I constructed the quilt, but I too like this direction.

 

 

 

 

Hands All Around This work is 60.5″ w X 38″t.   I am delighted with how this work finally  came out.   I ended up quilting only the negative spaces of white in a reflective manner. I am thankful for the use of many of my quilting friends hands to do this work.        I am off to get a professional shots of it on Sat.

 

 

 

 

Lap quilt #10    I also managed to put together this new lap quilt in the last two weeks.   I am building a steady pile of them to pass forward in the fall.   I still have a few pieces of fabric that I printed for the 100 Day Challenge to use  so there will be a few more in the future.

 

 

Collages    I did my play with paper on Tue this week.   These pieces are more exploring  with silhouetted figures.  I also attached some of the paper with the sewing machine for extra texture here.

 

 

 

Sense I am working on my own without instruction I am really free to do what I want in this area.

 

 

 

 

Scrap Work   When I helped  empte Ethel Whittemore’s studio, ten years ago, I brought home a big box of pre made squares and many strips  that were one to three inches  wide that she had cut and not used.   I have already created five queen sized quilts from that box .  Earlier this season I pulled the box out and I am now putting forth and effort to assemble all that remains in the box.   I may be at it a few more weeks , but I can see the bottom now.

Felting   I did put in a little work on this project this week.  I am now sorry that it is so large, but I will keep working away.

 

 

 

 

 Blue Beach  I am feeling like I am nearing the end of this project.   As I see it now only a few more hours remain here.

 

 

 

 

New work   This is the next work in the split compliment series.   I also added a second challenge to myself by trying to use as may of   Liz’s the precut arches and curves  as possible.    I am enjoying the process.

 

 

I hope all my readers enjoy the 4th in ways they see fit.

Carol

Active Week

Hello,

   This last week was a busy one for me.   I stated out last Friday by working the Pricilla Sale.   I worked the embellishment and accessory tent with Deb.

 

 

 

 

There were lots of costumers in the afternoon and my friend Sharon purchased one of the many coats .

They did a booming business in the fabric tent too and  I will admit I even added  a few yards to my stash.

 

 

 

 

Garments were the big ticket items and  these three gals also purchased beauties.

Then on Sat we had even more guests.   We packed up at 5 and went home exhausted for a second day.      There are still lots of goodies that will be sold of later.

  Monday I went on a walk along Onondaga lake with Wendy and granddaughter Alexis.   We spotted this Baldeagle. ( he is on the big curved branch, lower center.    We had a good time and enjoyed the walk.

 

 

 

Tue was the Diva meeting.    We took down the show at the Unitarian Church after our meeting.   This work is by Threaea.

 

 

 

 

Alice had lots to share , but I loved  this crow piece the most.

 

 

 

 

 

 Mary showed her African pieces again.   They are so strong graphicly I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denise  showed this collage type wool work.

 

 

 

 

 

Maureen shared this work.  She triple dyed it and then printed over it with fabric paint and stitched on top of that.  If you go to QBL you will be able to see it in person at the quilt show there.

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara is building new work too.  All the fabric is her own hand dyed and printed.   I am happy to be a part of such a talented group of gals.

Wed the pixies had their zoom meeting.  They are experiencing the hot humid summer of Florida while I am still wearing three layers.

Thursday I helped Liz do some sorting and cleaning.     She generously sent me home with bags of  fabric.   All this activity has meant that I have had little time in the studio  this week.   I did accomplish a little however.

Progress Report: Conflict  I am now done  with the quilting of this work.  I am enjoying the challenge that it has offered me.

 

Hands    I did finish satin stitching around all the organza hands on this work this week.  It took about 40 min to do each hand.   I started the quilting in the white.

 

 

 

Leaf Fall    This is my newest work using some of my hand printed fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants   I just added the squeezie paint  to this batch of fellows this morning.  When they are dry I will add the pin backs.

 

 

 

Collages     I did do my collages on Tue morning.  I did two as I will be away next week.  ( Marty and I are off to visit friends in Maine. )  In looking at these now I feel they are a little cluttered.

 

 

 

 

 

Felting    I picked up some new blue roving at the sale last week end and I just could not resist.  This on is a lot bigger then I usually work so it will take me a while to complete.

As I mentioned, I will be away next week.   I hope all enjoy the longest day of light in the norther hemisphere on Wed and the official beginning of summer.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Summer Snow

  Hello,

This week has been full of differing  weather  events.  When we last walked on Sunday the air was full of the floating seeds from the Cottonwood trees.  When my grandson was young he called it “Summer Snow” and it dose cover parts of the ground just as snow dose.   The air has changed a lot sense then.  We are really feeling the effects of the Canadian wild fires here.   Smoke from  hundreds  of fires has polluted our air so much, that warnings about the content have kept us from walking for four days.   I remember being concerned with  air pollution  40 years ago and  building  artworks with my students for a show titled  ” Once upon a time, when the earth was green and there was air you could not see…”   The kids did some great work and the quilt I made for the show ended up as a part of the perinate display at a nature reserve.   We were concerned about coal burning power plants then and we felt we could have some say about that action.   Many of them are phased out now.    But this is different as nature is in charge.    We do take the availability of clean air for granted.  The sky has been so many distressing colors and tints of gray,  and dirty yellow  over the last few days.   It is also the feeling of powerlessness that is part of my unhappiness.  What can one do?

Progress Report: Pony Boy   I did complete this lap quilt that is a part of the 100 Day

 

 

 

Challenge prints stuff.

The process is fun for me as I get to mix some strange stuff together.

 

 

 

Hands   I am to the place in the work were I am satin stitching down the organza hands.  It takes me about 35 min to do each one so this step is slow.   I do like the effect so it is well worth my time.

 

 

 

Conflict   This work is all assembled now and I am  at the quilting step.   I have made free motion circles around and along all the curves and inserted lines.     I am  ready to do the reflective quilting now.

new 110 Day Challenge piece  I am still building on this piece.  The best part in my eyes.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants   I am building lots of faces as it it baseball season and I worked during a game on the weekend.  I need to move forward with the completion steps so this little tribe can be put away until I get to a place were I can give them away.

Collage   I think there are times when one is really in the  creative grove  and then there are times when you just cannot force it.  I had five false starts this week when I played with collage.     I got too busy with layers in one case and nothing seemed to go together in a second.    The values were too close in a third.   Oh well, I can cut up what I did and look at it with new eyes next week.   And after all of that I am not suer about this one either.   Then again one does not get on base every time on goes to bat.

 

Blue Beach   I just keep building and looking at this work.  I do not feel it is done yet.

 

 

Felting  I was handed a bunch of blue roving by a friend and that made me pull out the stuff to start a new piece.  It is a bit bigger then I usually work as I want to use some of the embroidery wool on it.

I hope you are all breathing freely and that things are going well for you.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

Warming Up

Hello,

It has gone from a chilly spring to full hot summer here in just a few days.  We walked at 7:30 because it is set to go to 90 degrees here later today.     It was a quiet week for me this week and my only events were yesterday.  The FAD group meant here in the morning and we sat out on the patio and had a good time. 

Sharon is making great progress on the hand work she is adding to this piece.

 

The Pixies had our regular zoom meeting too.  It is always so enjoyable to talk with them as they all have such a different point of view and emphasis.

Progress Report:   Hands   I have now completed the free motion work in all the black of this piece.     I got a little help yesterday on what type of quilting to do in the white areas.   They really confirmed what I was thinking, but self doubt had me a bit frozen as to how to move forward.

Conflict I started and just about finished the construction of this work this week.  It is the fourth in the split compliment series using yellow, blue violet and red violet.

 

 

 

Pony Boy  This is the next in the SAQA 100 day pieces.  It has a lot of old bits of altered and printed fabrics in it.   It is a lap quilt that I will pass forward in the fall.    I only have two more of the pony’s to do shadow quilting on and the quilting step will be done.

Blue Beach  I just keep adding buttons and looking at this work.  It still feels like it needs a bit more so I keep at it.

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Works  This work got lost as the title suggests.  I was organizing and discovered this work I had started as a part of a on line assignment.     Too much stuff in my space I guess.

It got completed this week any way.

 

 

 

 

 

Collage   I had a good time on Tuesday afternoon  this week.  I am feeling more confident about building up the surfaces and things sort of fell together this time so I did two.  “Lost in Thought”  is this blue one with lots of layers of transparency.

 

 

 

“Confused Thinking” is the second.  I used the same figure on both of these.   I am learning that I really like building on a heavy paper base even if that makes the work a little deep some times.

Creative Assistants  I completed nineteen more of these little guys this week.  I am happy to be using up lots of little bits and treasures that I seem to collect with out even realizing I am doing it.

I am enjoying working away on all my projects and for that I am grateful.

Stay safe

Carol