Category Archives: Felt Work

Collage, Felt Work, Hand work, Pixies Group, Re Work

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

 

 

100 day Challenge, Collage, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Felt Work, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Split Compliments

Home from Maine

1 Comment

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

100 day Challenge, Collage, Conflict, Creative Assistants, Felt Work, Split Compliments

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

 

 

100 day Challenge, Color Study, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Felt Work, Hand work, Machine Drawing, Nebula, Pixies Group

Warmer Weather

Hello,

We are really feeling the warmer temperatures here in the north east.  I even left the window open all night last night.  Very refreshing.   It has been a fast change as last weekend  I did not remove the electric blanket when I change the sheets because I had needed it the night before.  I sure have not needed it for the last three nights.  The buds are popping out on the trees and there are lots of small  tender green leaves on things as we walk.  The birds of all sorts serenade us  as well.  It is a glorious time of year.

I have been busy with lots of meetings.   The Pixies meant on Wed. and   the FAD group meant here this week too.  We spent the whole time out on the patio  enjoying that wonderful temperatures.  Sharon shared two of her newest winder field pieces with us.    Yesterday I went off to Marty’s new digs and spent the day with her.   She  is playing with fabric to make landscapes.  I think they are wonderful.

 

I am ready to begin a new piece for the SAQA 100 day challenge.   We are on day 90 already.  I sure have enjoyed doing the work.

 

 

 

Progress Report:  Titers in the Ring   This work is 40″ w X 50″ t.   It is #6 in the SAQA 100 Day Challenge pieces.   The tigers are the stamp and I also hand dyed the green lace that I used here.

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Beach  I am enjoying adding the buttons to this work.  I think I am beyond the half way point now.

 

 

 

 

 

Circus Parade  This work is also part of the SAQA 100 Day challenge.   I used all the Chinese Zodiac creatures that I made in this one.  I started free motion quilting  on this this morning.    This is quilt # 7 in this series.

 New Series- Split Complements #1 Blue- Yellow Orange- Red Orange   Titled:  Analyzed Appearance        I felt I needed to keep up the color exploration so I moved on to Split Complements.  I think I will do one primary and the two variations on its complement for this series.  I started with Blue and used four shades of  that base  color with this piece plus white for contrast.

Nebula   I did this felted piece as a response to the demonstration at the  Associated Artist meeting two weeks ago.  The demonstrator was going to toss the colorful material she had peeled away from the surface of her work.  I picked it up and felted it into this piece.  I finished the beading yesterday.  Only need to frame it now.

Take Off    I have put so much of my time into abstract work of late that I thought I would start a piece with subject matter.  So I built this curvy cut background.  I plan to add sea guls taking off on top.

I hope you are enjoying pleasant weather were you are .

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

100 day Challenge, Collage, Creative Assistants, Felt Work, Green Collection, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group, Purple Impinging, Shows, Stretched Works

Spring Growth

Hello,

It has been a full week for me.  One of the event that I Zoomed was a review of a fiber art show that I did not get into.  I found it very interesting that only 17 pieces were accepted and over 400 were entered.  That says a lot about how difficult  the judges job was.   The Judge talked and went into great detail about how she considered what selected.   I did not feel badly about not getting into the show even before I listened but,  it did make me think about why one dose enter competitions.   It sure is a boost to ones self image when one gets accepted but dose it really say anything about ones personal direction?     Three of the artist who were in the show also talked about their work.  They were all young and I think they need the acceptance and encouragement of being a part of this event far more than a person like me.  I am established and although I love a challenge, I know who I am.  That has great power in its self.  For those young women who are new to the fiber world it is far more difficult  and important.    I hope I can encourage them to grow into there full  potential and self confidence.   So why do I enter?  Well I think it is a self challenge and a motivator to keep on my own toes about what I do.     Going forward is important even as one ages.

 

I was in the Social Art Show this week( no judging).   This shot is of my friend Victoria’s work and several admirers.  I  got lots of positive feed on my work,  “Three Witches”.

 

The Pixies meant and  we had a lot to talk about.    Laura had taken photos of Susan’s work in her yard sale last week.  I like Susan’s playful style.  Everyone had their say about the week

We are one day 72 of the 100 Day Challenge for SAQA and things are moving along.   I am building up a top with my Tiger prints from earlier this year.

 

 

 

 

I am also doing the Sketchbook Revival and having great fun  as color is the emphasis this year.     One lesson was on mixing water color backgrounds with lettering.

 Several were  collage projects.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  Green Collection    This work is 48″ w X 61″l.   It is one of the 100 Day Challenge lap quilts.    I was still in the spiral mood when I free motion quilted this work

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Mushrooms    This is a felted stretched work that is 22″w X 16″ t.   I have been working on it for a few weeks and had the most trouble deciding on what size to make it.  I did cut off quite a bit and I think that was for the best.

 

 

 

 

 

 Purple  Imagining   I am nearing the completion of the machine quilting on this project.  There are lots of little sections  here.

 

Blue Beach   I just keep adding buttons to the surface.   I am doing lots of looking at the surface too.

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants   As you can see I am ready to put arms and backing on a new batch of these guys.   I am making progress on them although it is slow.

Enjoy the longer sun shine days and keep creating.

Carol

 

 

 

100 Day Challenge, Blue Beach, Creative Assistants, Drawing, Explorations, Felt Work, Pixies Group, Purple Impinging, Re Work, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Longer Sun Filled Days

Hello,

The natural world is responding to the longer sun lit days.  It is wonderful to hear so many birds and see so much green on our walks.     I do not mind it being light until after dinner time either.

There was an Associated  Artists meeting this week and we had a  demonstration.  Her trick is to use that fiber” spider wed” stuff that one can purchase at Halloween to attract the paint on the surface.  She then rubs the fiber off the surface and the lines of paint remain.   I asked for and she gave me the fibers and they were the start of a new felted piece for me.

 I think it will be a new nebula thing of some sort.

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a Pixie meeting and the Sisterhood of the  had a great zoom meeting even though there were only four of us.  Scissors.

I keep working away on the 100 Day SAQA challenge stuff too.  I started a new top yesterday using the Tiger print as my jumping of point.

 

 

My wonderful and  generous  friend, Liz, passed forward lots of beautiful solids to me too.   They were in storage, so now I have a lot of laundry to do.  I see that as a chance to really get to know what treasures she has given me and I can  sort of plan my next projects.

 

 

The spring Sketchbook Revival started on Monday.  I love the little challenges it provides- but that is usually about 2 hours a day to complete the drawings.    I like the starch  it provides me.

As a result I did not spend as much time in the studio as usual, but I am still working.

Progress Report: Collection Greens   This is the total top for this next 100 Day Project.   I did start the quilting using free motion yesterday.

 

 

 

 

This step will go quickly I think  and I hope to finish it this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Beach   I am still adding buttons to the surface here.  I also did finish all the work on all 20  Creative Assistants as my second hand work this week.   No photo of that project as it is all put away for the next QBL already.

 

 

 

Imagine Purple    I finally finished all the hand work on this project on Monday.  I started the machine quilting to fill in all the spaces between the running stitch lines.  There is lots of stop and go on this step so the going is slow.

I hope you are enjoying spring and staying safe.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, Auction pieces 12 " X 12", Creative Assistants, Explorations, Into the Wool woods, Pixies Group, Purple Impinging, Quilt Surface Design Assassination, Understanding Orange, Wolf Mountain Petroglyphs

Movining into March

Hello,

We are in the middle of the wild weather part of March.  Winter does not seem to want to let go in our part of the world. It has been very cold and windy here of late.  I have mostly stayed inside.   No walking this week- too cold!  Only two zoom meetings this week the Retired Art Teachers( RATS) and Pixies.

The 100 days project is moving forward.   I did finish up my Year of the Rabbit piece for the SAQA auction in Sept.    It’s 12″X 12″.     There are some old printed fabrics in this too.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Understanding Orange      This work is 34.5″ w X 40″ t.    I am enjoying mixing hand work with the machine quilting as I work on this series.

For this one I did the seed stitches in all the circles that were created when I extended the curve cut sections into the circular shapes.  Every time I came to the edge of one of the circles I changed the color of the thread I was using in the hand work.

 

Imagine Purple  This is the last in the monochromatic series.  I am just extending the metallic inserts that I did as my hand work this time.   Just using the running stitch.

 

100 Day Challenge # 4     I do not have a title for this one yet but it is going well.  It also has way out stretched the original intended boundaries.     I  added some older printed fabrics to this- the blue fern like stuff and the marbleized yellow.    Perhaps that is why it had become so large.   I only need to fill in the white section in the center and add to the bottom so it is even.

Into the Wool Woods   This project grew out of the SAQA lecture on Material Matters were the features artist talked of felting.  I sure had a good time getting the feltier out again and it is still on the desk.   The mushroom steams are stitched down but the caps are still free floating.  That is the next hand project.

Rework-  Blue Beach   I took the frapped flexable tubing off the surface of this work  in Dec.  The quilted  background had been setting on the shelf sense then.   After watching Experimental Surfaces on the Material Matters SAQA sight, I though  what can I paly with?   I had pinned up the painted and  melted tyvek  along the top of my pin wall a while back.  I was inspired to put these two ideas together.    Adding the buttons came later.  I am enjoying all the different textures here.

Wolf Mountain Petroglyph   I did the stamping of the figures in the center at the end of the 50 days for the SAQA  100 Day Challenge.   I use this fabric because it reminded me of a rock wall.   Then when it came to the quilting step I did a little research on petroglyphs and drawings  from my sketchbook.   I had drawn some circular patters several summers ago in a class with Rosalie Dace and thought   could use them here.   I  feel it is coming along nicely.

I did work on Creative Assistances too but did not take a photo this time.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, Creative Assistants, Explorations, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Felt Work, Lavender Fields Forever, Pixies Group, Understanding Orange, Year of the Rabbit

March Tiger

Hello

Our weather man said that March came in like a “tiger” this year.  It was cold and light snow so I guess it was a tiger instead of a lion.   There was no rawer.    For me that  description  sure congers up a different image.  I find it festinating   how we use animal imagery for so many things.    We might say, quiet as a mouse,  brave as an eagle or strong as a bull  to describe our fellows.   Or we could describe others actions as slippery as an eel or jumpy as a frog.  All those descriptions do add color and visuals to our minds.     Well, I will wisely as the owl let, that be the end of this observation.

It has been a quiet week with only two meetings for me.  The pixies meant yesterday and FAD had a meeting here on Monday.    Sharon has finished up her work from the Bett’s demo  and showed us at the meeting.    I like the fence she added to the work.

 

 

 

I did the SAQA Material Matters lecture yesterday and it was on Silk this week.  I have now pulled out my silk roving and plan to do  a little work with that material next.

Today is day 46 of the 100 Day SAQA Challenge.   I selected the next two prints to start the next work.  I am having fun mixing them printed materials with what is already on my shelves.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:   Lavender Fields Forever  This work is 21″ w X 26.5″.   This is the second of the pieces using fabric I printed  for the SAQA  100 Day challenge.    I did the quilting shapes using the same shapes as the printed image.

 

 

The white is a paper pattern that I stitched around to do that quilting  job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Understanding Orange  I just keep adding seed stitching to the surface to fill in the rounded shapes.  I only have five left to fill in and then I will be ready to do the machine quilting.

Year of the Rabbit    This project is also a result of the SAQA 100 day print series.  I will finish this and it will also serve as my SAQA entry for the benefit Auction in Sept.   I need to stitch down the binding.

Wool/Felting   I have built up some additional felting on this work sense last week.  I think I will add spring flowers or mushrooms to this to complete it.

 

Slogan for 2023    During Interlude in January   with Jane Dewald, she  challenged us to come up with a word or idea to emphasis over the course of the year.     I tried several things but not until this week did I find the best idea for me.  So to keep it on my mind and emphasis it  I took the other felted piece I had done and made this sign for my studio.     It says  Be Curious, Be Humble, Be Brave.    Good goals for me.

Creative Assistants   I finished up these eleven creative assistants this week along with several others that are in various stages.    I just keep plugging away here.

Stay safe and be Creative

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, Aplique, Creative Assistants, Explorations, Felt Work, Hand work, Purple Impinging, Re Work, SAQA, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Understanding Orange

What I See

Hello,

I just had cataract surgery on my left eye yesterday and that has alerted me to how our eyes effect what I see.   Through the eye with the new lens things seem clearer and more blue that the yellow brown that I now see through the right one.  It makes for a bit of a fuzzy mix at the moment.    I have not has the reaction that one of my fellow artists talked about.  She found that she hated the color combinations for some of her past work.  So far that has not been the case with me.   The body seems to be adapting.  It is an amazing machine!

This week I made it to the Sisterhood of the Scissors and the Pixie’s Zoom meetings.  Both were enjoyable .  I also made a trip to the Cabin Fever Quilt show were I had three pieces.    This is an old work that is hand appliqued  that I did for my Dad.   It is double bet sized  and I had pulled it for my solo show to start with,  but found it was far too big.

 

Sharon was demonstrating on the day I went to visit.

 

It was fun to watch her cut each branch and then place it before fuzzing it down.     She then machine stitches over the work too.

 

 

 

 

This is an example of a finished work.

 

 

 

I am following the SAQA  Materials Matter series and this week it was on Wool.  That got me fired up to do a little felting.

It is always good to have places to do handwork.

 

 

 

The  SAQA  100 Day Challenge got attention too.   I cut new stamps  and printed one set.

 

 

 

I realized I was  getting tired of printing on white so I pulled some different old work and printed on top of it  for some of  these.

 

 

 

 

Then I selected two from this purple/yellow group to be the jumping off place for the next little project.

 

 

 

 

 

I even got some of them cut yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Understanding  Orange   I am  only putting in about an hour a day on the  hand stitching so it is slow going.

 

Purple Imaginings   I finished assembling the top of this work  and it is pin based now.  I have not decided how I will quilt this yet so it is just waiting.

 

 

 

 

Creative Assistants    I finished off  16 more of these little guys this week.  There are only 15 in the shot because the last one would not fit on the box top.   There are lots of others in various stages too.

 Rework Project     In my fooling around this week  I decided to add some new surface design to this quilted piece. I had removed the old stuff a few weeks ago.   It is started, but as many things I am not sure were to go from this point, so I will let it set for a while.

 

Keep your eyes open and stay safe

Carol

 

 

100 day Challenge, Donuts and Wholes, Felt Work, Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Group, Hand work, Meandering Mind- Examine, Pixies Group, Purple Impinging, Understanding Orange

Staying the Course

Hello,

I  hope you all had the type of Valentines day that you enjoyed.  My wonderful husband got me these roses.  I love how the sun light was on them at the end of the day.

The Finger Lakes Fiber Artists meant on Saturday.  We had a great meeting.  The show and tell is always the best. Pat showed her new work saying that the new studio is so large that her work is expanding too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maureen is working with paint on canvas now as well as her dyeing.

 

 

 

Sharon had a new winter fields piece that is very quiet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Jeanne did a specular graffiti piece  for the Sisterhood challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

Deb had a nice little work she was finishing for her Husband.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Joyce brought her wonderful dolls and her new baskets.  She is working like mad at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the meeting I went with several others to look at the Both Ends of the Rainbow show in the main gallery of the Schweinfurth.      Sharon  had these two pieces in that show  that is up until  March 12.

 

 

 

I also had my fall piece, Leaf Pile in the show.

 

 

 

There was also a Pixies meeting as usual and we had a good time as well.

I keep working on the  SAQA 100 Day Challenge. 

 

I selected two fabrics that I had  printed and built a small quilt using them as my start units.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made special units like the triangles to add a bit of spice.

 

 

 

 

I finished the assembling and started quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quilting gave me the idea for its title.  Donuts and Wholes is what I am going to call it

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Understanding Orange   I am doing handwork on this piece now.  I enjoy this step in a a different way then when I am creating the top.     I will add more machine work when the hand step is done.

 

 

 

 

Purple Imagining  This is the last of the monochromatic series.   It is always slow going at the beginning of the layout process for me.

 

 

 

 

Textile Artist Stitch Club Workshop   I pulled this work out again this week and I intend to complete it.   I think I can do that with a bit of effort

 

 

 

 

Handwork  This piece got berried  under the 100 day project stuff and only resurfaces when I put the paints away.   I think it is nearing  completion too.

 

 

 

 

New Work- felting   I got out Val Holmes book ” Creative Recycling in Embroidery ”   and  got going on some shapes that are not rectangles.  I was really searching for my silk, ( and I did find it) but I got side tracked by the colors of the wool roving in the cabinet.   Now I have two new works to  play with.   I plan to get out the feltier tomorrow.

Stay safe and keep Creating

Carol