Category Archives: Re Work

Moving into Fall

Hello,

Fall is really filling our air. The nights are crisp and cool and the days have been sunny and warm with a little rain every now and then.   I have been busy raking leaves and finishing up with the garden cleanups.

 

 

Last Friday Liz ,Victoria and I went to Rochester to the Memorial Art Gallery to look at the art.  We all were epically interested in seeing the “Infinity  Room” .   It is a room of mirrors and reflective balls.

 

 

 

 

All of it a bit over whelm inly beautiful!   The rest of the art was good too and we had a good day.

 

My Joyous Embroidery Class is now over, But I still have projects to finish.  I will post them in progress report.

The Pixies also meant and  We got to talking about Halloween and costumes.  I will post about that next week.

FAD had a meeting yesterday as well.   Sharon shared a  beautiful new piece with wonderful depth. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Nine Play     This work is 43″ X 43″.    I still need to add the labels  on the back, but I am posting it as complete anyway.  It does seem to have nice movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nine Two    This work is the sister to Nine Play.   I just started quilting it this morning so I am not very far along.    It is stable as I did stitch in the ditch on the edges of the nine blocks that are the start of this work.

 Lap # 18   I just enjoy playing with the process some times and that is what this project is all about.  I am playing with the colors a bit too.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap ## 19   I have pulled the fabric I want to use in the next Lap quilt and that is about all I can say about this one.   Quite a contrast form the mono chromatic one I did this week!

 

 

 

 

 

Sea Floor      This is a rework project from my rock series about six years ago.  ( I will attach a before image)

 

 

I have been adding to this as a part of the Joyous Embroidery class assignment.    I really enjoyed the process and the new found freedom to embellish with lots of extra’s.   An antique belt bucket here for example.

 

Blue Sea  I have not put in much time on this work as I have been concentrating on other had work instead, but the trumpo is going well.

 

Light Florals   This work is also a result of my class with Flur Woods.  The Lace is mostly from my friend Judy.   There is still lots of work to do however.   It needs some colored embroidery work,   but I am pleased with how it is going.

I hope everyone has the type of Halloween that they enjoy.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

Fall Beauty

Hello,

 Fall is creating her wonders around here now.  So many colors and changes.  I enjoy the walks whit the leaves skittering down the path in front of me while I crunch through them. I made my usuals fall efforts to catch the falling colored leaves as they rushed toward the earth, but was not real successful today.   The wall nuts are piling up and the white pines have dropped many cones.  I collected some and hope to create a wreathe later.

My weeks continue to be full.   It started with  a Finger Lakes Fiber Artist Meeting on Saturday.     This is Marcia’s newest piece.   She dose wonderful work I think,

Victoria had two new pieces and I liked them both.   The use of grommets to connect the units is a great solation as I am sure they would fight with the eye of the viewer  for attention other wise.

 

Her second one is very interesting with the weaving  too.

 

 This week also  included an opening at the Manlius Library for the new members of Assonated Artists.  Friends Adam Virial and Carol Adamic were among them.

I enjoy Adam’s playfulness.

 

The sculpture is one of Carol’s.   She can be so playful with her work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pixies meant as usual.  Susan has asked us to do memories about food, so I will make that story and illustration at the end.

Victoria, Liz and I meant Cheri and Liz at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester on Thursday and had a wonderful time.   We visited the Infinity Room with it many mirrors and reflection balls.  It was powerful!

I also did more with the Joyous Embroidery Class.   I am enjoying creating my Fabric Collage piece although it is slow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Nine Play    I am to the quilting Stage on this project now.   I am doing reflective quilting with little added picks were there are color changes.

Nine Two    This is the second nice patch with similar colors in use.   I am using curves here too to add a different feel.

 

 

 

 

Lap # 17   This quilt is also ready for the quilting stage now.

 

 

 

 

 

Sea Floor I am nearing the completion of this project I think.   I only want to add a bit more clutter to the bottom and it will be ready for binding.

 

Blue Sea  I am doing the hand work of adding trumpto  to this piece.  It is very slow as I don’t put in too much time on it.

 

 

 

Food Memory :  Strawberries and Ice Cream

In those summers when we lived with the McElhinney grandparents I recall getting in her bright blue Ford and driving about mile down the road to the Samuels house. We would go in and Grandmother would talk with Mrs Samuels for a while . I had to seit quietly while this went on. The we would all go out to the strawberry bed. It was huge and there were 12 foot 12inch boards placed across the bed every so many feet. One would walk out on the board and kneel down to pick the berries. I loved doing that as I would always eat a few as I picked. I don’t recall, but I am sure Grandmother paid her- be it in cash or eggs. Then we went back home and washed and cut the berries before some were frozen and some just went into the refrigerator. Later in the afternoon Grandmother loaded Gene and I into the car and we went to town to the Ice House. She would put some coins in the box on the out side and then go into the building and carry out a block of ice with some enormous thongs. She would but put the ice block on a burlap feed sack in the trunk of the car. Then back to the farm. The ice was carried down to the basement sink were Gene and I had to break it up with the ice pick and put it in the ice cream maker. We did not work on that long as folks started to arrive and the Uncles and Dad took over the job. Soon Grandmother carried down a silver cullender full of cream and such to make the ice cream. She put it into the barren and ice was added around it. Then the cranking began. I remember Uncle Ernie, Uncle Jim, Uncle Bernard, Grandpa and Dad cranking for what seemed like hours to me. I did beg for a try once and found it to be a lot harder than I expected. Every now and then more ice and salt was added to the top of the wooden crank barrel. Ice water leaked out the bottom of the barren as the ice cream hardened. Mean while up stairs the women talked and the kids, myself included, played in the yard. Finally the ice cream was done and it was celebration time. I recall how exciting it was to be handed a old margerin bowl with a power milk biscuit inside and a couple of big scoops of ice cream. One then moved to the table to add fresh strawberries and get a spoon. Kids went out to the picnic table to enjoy the feast. The fireflies came out and we ate all the ice cream. From my point of view life could not be better.

Have a creative week

Carol

 

The View

Hello,

     Yesterday Liz and I made a trip to Old Forge to see the quilt shows at the View.     It was wonderful.   I was so attuned to seeing composition after the show that I had to take a photo of the wall was we walked away.   Look for a work based on this in my future.

 

 

 I really enjoyed the shows and having work by people I knew only added to the enjoyment.      Marcia had one of her real beauties accepted .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noel had two in the show and this one won First Prize.

 

 

 

 

Sue Ellen also had two works accepted in this show.    ( it is square the angle is my fault)

 

 

 

 

This quilt won the award for best use of color and it is the one I liked best too.   All the colors are done with silk.

 

 

Denies had a quilt in the Contrast QSDS show that was also on display at the View.

 

 

 

 

 

This week I also had a zoom meeting with the Pixies.   My Food entry for this week was  a Baked Potato.

Here is the accompanying story:

When I was about 10 my parents decided to go back to school and they did it in the summers. Gene and stayed with them in student housing in Iowa City for the fist week. It was not designed with children in mind and very desolate. When we went to visit our grandparents on the week end it was decided that we would stay with them instead of living in Iowa City. All that summer and for several others we would alternate between Dad’s parents on the farm in Morning Sun for a week and spend the following week with Mom’s folks in Grandview. As kids it was great for us. I recall one day when Grandmother Ruth had prepared baked potatoes as a part of dinner. Both Gene and I turned up our noses at that. Grandmother asked “ do you like mashed potatoes and potato chips?” We agreed we did and then she said “ Has anyone ever taught you how to eat backed potatoes?” Then she preceded to slice the skin and mashed it with a fork followed with salt and pepper. Then she topped the whole thing with of butter.“ Now try it.”  We both did We loved baked potato’s ever sense.

 

  The Quilt Diva’s  had a meeting on Tue and it was a fun and lively one.       Anne took a  class called “Forest Bathing” .   It was all bout slowing down and enjoying the environment.   She  then did a follow up drawing class with the same teacher.       We are  a malty  talented group.

 

 

 

This quilt was a challenge from the Modern Quilt group that Anne belongs as well.

 

 

 

 

 

  I also am working away on my Joyous Embroidery class stuff.    I am enjoying the fabric collage project that we are now working on.

 

 

Progress Report: Nine Play   I have split up and shuffled the nine basic blocks.  I added some strips in as well to add interest.  I think I am ready to start assembling the  top  now.

 

 

Blue Sea    I have layered  this work and after some suggestions form the Diva group I now have some good ideas about how to do the quilting.

 

 

Sea Floor  This work is being influenced by the Joyous Embroidery class  and my interest in the sea too.  I painted the lace that my friend Judy gave me with the intent to use it on the class project- but it works better here.   This project is also a re work of an older quilt from my Rock based work series.   The sea horses are the ones  that did not work on Blue Sea.

Scrap work   I am working away on this project.  I  sewed a lot of blocks tougher this week.

 

 

 

Lap quilt # 17     As a part of the  SAQA 45 day challenge I am working away on lap quilts.  These are the colors I have selected to use for the next one.

 

The days go by quickly and I am filling them with work and good times.

Stay safe and enjoy the season.

 

Carol

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

 

 

Under the Weather

Hello,

I am suffering a sore throat at the moment.  I caught it from my husband and I am not real happy about that.   I really don’t fee too bad, but I sure do not want to pass it on to anyone I know so I have canceled a few things already.     Before I became ill I had a busy week.  Friday Liz, and I drove to Palmyra to help  Marcia sort and price items for the Perilla sale in June.    There are a lot of her beautiful coats that are for sale.  Liz and I both priced fabric  and we all talked the whole day.   It was a good time.   I will post more about the sale as it gets closer.

I made it to the Diva meeting  and it was very stimulating.   We are working on a  group project and that took most of the meeting time.   We are doing a group banner for Together Women Rise. Then we did do show and tell.  Cheri is doing some great printing.   I really like this approach.

 

 

 

 

 

Denise went off for two weeks to an artist in residence program and came home with three wonderful fiber works.   They all have so much texture and color.    They are felted wool plus so much more in the way of fabrics and stitching.

 

 

 

Mary is still  working through some of her purchased fabric prints that she  got in Africa.

I made it to the Zoom meetings this week too.  The QuEGs  meant on Tue, the Pixies meant on Wed and I did the Schweinfurth Art Talk with Nancy Crow yesterday.

 

 

Progress Report:  Together Women Rise-  Equal Voice.   This is the start of  my project for the group.  I have cut the figures and will keep building on this through the month.

 

 

 

Circulation   This is the second in the Split Complement Series.   As the photo shows I am to the quilting step of this one now.

 

 

 

 

Circus Grounds  I am also doing free motion quilting on this project.   This is the last of the SAQA 100 day challenge.  I found that without the requirement of   daily posting I do lots other projects instead of focusing on this one.

Blue Beach  I just keep adding buttons to this surface.   I am beginning to feel like I am near the end.

 

 

 

 

 

Take Off  I am working away on this project and drawing the more Terns in take off mode.   I am using inktense pencils to add the details.

 

Hand Work    This is the on going project that I only pick up when every thing else is “done”.   I did work on it although the Pixie meeting this week.

Creative Assistants     I finished another batch of these little guys.   Each completed one is closer the end of the process.

I hope no one else is under the weather and that  enjoying spring is your main goal.

Carol

 

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

 

Spring Forward

  Hello,

We had a big snow storm this week that out lined the trees in white and made for lots of shoveling.  Those gray cold days did not help me adjust to the springing forward of day light savings time, but I like the everyone else am adjusting.   I went off to the Schweinfurth on Monday and helped take down the Both Ends of the Rainbow show along with the staff.

I see doing that as my community service to the  Art Center as it gives me so much joy and so many opportunities to explore and grow.  The talk was good and we emptied all the galleries but one by the time I had to go home.

The snow cancelled the FAD and Social Arts meetings , but the on line zoom meeting of the Pixies went on as normal.   I feel so very fortunate to have so many groups that connect me with so many wonderful people.

The 100 Day SAQA challenge is at day 61 now and I am doing well.   I am ready to begin project # 5 using my stamped and stenciled fabrics in conjunction with commercial stuff.

 

 

 

Project Report: Wolf Mountain Petroglyph   This piece is 35″w X20.5″ t.   It is the made from stamps that I had created before, but had not printed until I was working on the 100 day project.

  I then started doing free motion quilting creating circular shapes to add around the figures.  It was fun and went quickly so the project is now to the point were I only need to add the sleeve this evening and it well be complete.

Spiraling Out   This work is # 4 from the SAQA  100 Day Challenge.   I am done quilting now and only need to add the binding and sleeve.

The printed block of ferns is an old work of mine.

 

 

 

Imagine Purple  I am still doing the running stitches to connect all the metallic inserts on this project.  I only have 15 more to connect  to the edges or each other to finish this step.

 

 

 

Wool Woods  I stitched down the mushrooms this week and now I need to purchase some stretcher bars to stretch it on.   I did a little painting on the white mushrooms with watered down acrylic as was suggested in the Material Matters lecture two weeks ago.   I want to try more ” painting” on wool  too.

Creative Assistants  I got busy and added hair arms and backs to 20 more assistants that had faces.  Now I need to move on with the stuffing and addition of pin backs to complete this little tribe.

 

Blue Beach  Work continues on this project.  I love all the textures of the buttons.   I have learned more about controlling tyvec sense I made these sections.  I will try some now work soon in that area too.          So glad that I had really quilted heavily on this background to support the weight.

Stay safe

Carol

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

Opening +

Hello,

  The opening on Sunday was the big event of the week for me.      I was happily pleased by all the folks who came to support me.    Two of the gals in this photo came from over from an hour away  and that was a big surprise.   

 

 

 

 

 

My daughter and youngest grandson came as well .   He is over six feet and makes me look really like a small grandmother.

 

 

With this show I tried to show old work and new as well as show all the different techniques I use. This work in the show is my first Fire piece and it was done about 25  years ago.

 

I put this work in the show to show off my applique skills and my handwork.

 

 

 

 

Granite Grannies is and example of a work that is both painted and dyed.  I did free motion drawing to out line the faces.

 

 Calling Crows is a work that won Judges Choice at the Adirondack Quilts Show a few years ago.   I did it after being awakened by crows at 4:00 in the morning when I was staying in Auburn.

  This work is called Forest Flock.  I machine drew all the little birds  and then appliqued them to the background.  The dark  tree is made from an old black skirt that I felted.

 

 

Briar Patch is a work that came about because I was playing with metallic threads and they suggested shinny berries to me.

 

 

 

Lastly I included the last three studies I did this fall as a part of the Explorations series.   I am in a new phase of this same self challenge now.

 

 

 

 

There were more works in the show , but I did not include them all.  The pictures show of the show were taken by my daughter, Wendy.

There was a Pixie Meeting this week and we shared lots of ideas.  I am continuing to work away on the 100 Day SAQA challenge. Friday I printed these images .   The images on the bottom  are new and the ones on the top are the new blocks over an existing image.

 

I printed new images on  Saturday.

 

 

 

 

I did a Rabbit to celebrate the Chinese New year of the Rabbit

 

 

 

Tue I printed the new images

 

 

 

 

 

Wed I cut these new images.   I decided to do  a Rat as the Chinese symbol because that is my year.

 

 

Today is the twelfth day and an even one so I printed .  One the left are the prints them selves and on the right are them used on top of  another printed image.    I am having fun and learning things so I feel good about this project.

Progress Report: Blue Horizons  This work is 34.5 ” X  38″. I enjoyed doing the handwork on this piece and finished it on Tue.

The   free motion process is also  fun for me.   I have fun dreaming up  images to machine draw.

 

 

 

 

Presume    I am still in the hand work stage here.  I am out lining the metallic’s  like I did on Forbidden Fruit.

 

Envision   I finished putting together the top for this work on Monday.  Then yesterday after pin basting it I did some stitch in the ditch work to stabilize it  so I can do the hand work here.   I am just thinking about the the pattern the hand work will take at this point.

 

 

Understanding Orange  I have just begun this top.  It is number 5 in the Monochromatic Studies of the Meandering Mind series.  I will start using purples when this one is done.

 

 

 

Creative Assistants   I finished off 22 more of these little guys this week.  This  is the most recent bunch ready for the paint and pin backs.   I hope to do a few more faces and add bodies before I complete the batch.

I hope that my readers are stay safe and enjoying the season.

Keep Creating

Carol