Category Archives: Scrap Happy Quilts

Blossoms and Butterflies, Incisions, Label Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts

Dealing

September 17, 2015 admin 1 Comment

Ethel Whittamore's work — Ethel Whittamore’s work

Hello,

We all have losses in our lives. Some are small like losing a thimble and other are bigger like a death. I suffered a big one with the death of my quilting buddy Ethel. I am so very fortunate that her daughter, Elise, has included me in her end of life events and in doing so, the loss, although deep, is becoming one of bitter sweetness. I have been tasked with the completion of Ethel’s last top to become a quilt for the Quilting by the Lake raffle for the Scholarship fund. What a gracious honor. I plan to finish the assemblage and then hand quilt it in the style Ehtel her self would have done. Elise has included me in the dismantling of Ethel’s studio and in the distribution of her many quilting treasures too. We spent a lovely day last Friday sorting and boxing up her fabrics. My studio is bursting with the boxes and I feel very comforted by there presents. I will not keep most of the material, but pass a lot onto her many other quilting friends with the hope that it makes them feel her spirit around them as I do. I did most of my dyeing with Ethel’s guidance and now I have all of her materials to continue the process. I am thankful. Ethel was also the person who got me interested in silk paper making. That is something that I continue to explore and I even teach the process. This week I did two sheets in preparation for a work shop on that topic that I will be teaching next week. There will be no post because I will be at the Pink House Art Gallery in Saranac Lake presenting at that time.

There was a FAB meeting here this week too. With lots of thought and with great care I am posting a quilt by one of the group members Okay. Nancy is quit proud of this quilt and I think she should be. She has a design sense that I so admire. I have been a big part of this quilt too as the thin dark blue line near the outside boarder is one she and I over dyed earlier this summer. She now has to decide how she wants to quilt this colorful work.

Progress Report: Blossoms and Butterflies This work is moving along nicely now. It is the second in the butterfly series. The background is completed now and I will now build the butterflies to add on top.

Incisions This work now has a title and I feel good about it. I have started the free motion quilting on this piece and think it will be finished soon. The red is the felt/batting so this part of the image will not be part of the final work.

Scrap Happy I finished the second twin Scrap Happy quilt on Tuesday and it went with the first to its new home. I can’t seem to leave well enough alone – so I made the rows from the left overs from this project and several others. The shoe box that I keep leftover squares in, is still overflowing so there will be at least two more quilts of this style in the near future.

Creative Assistants All these guys got arms, hair and backs this week. Now they only need there final paint embellishments and they will be done. I am ready to switch back to making more faces on the next batch. That is what I do during TV football games.

Fifteen Challenge The Diva group is fifteen years old and we are having a big show next summer. The group challenge is to create a 15” square quit that has fifteen in the work in some way. I have designed a square that has a roman numeral –XV in it. I made the block and because there is lots of bias in the shapes it got greatly distorted when I assembled it on the machine. So I am re doing it and making the blocks by hand. This is one fourth of the final piece.

Label Blocks This is # 20 in the label block line up. I can see this process still has weeks to go as there are still lots of labels in my box. I am glad to take contributions from any source for this project too.

Keep Creating

Carol

Label Blocks, Rifts, Scrap Happy Quilts

Line Types

September 10, 2015 admin

Hello,
I have been thinking a lot about lines. That is my emphasis for this year. I think lines in art at least can be put into five categorize. There are strait lines, curved lines, broken or dotted lines and a combination type line that puts two or more of these types together. The last category is the outline or the edge line. This type does not really exist in nature, but artist us it all the time. The edge line is some times created when two colors meet. Another time you get the edge/out line is when an object meets space. This air to earth line also helps us see and define up and down. We tend to think of the sun as being up and light from that source is on top of objects while the line is dark on the underside that is away from the sun, there for it is down. I am still pondering this effect of edge/outline and I am sure not that it is in my consciousness I will see it more often.
Progress Report: Rifts

This is the newest member of the Foundations series. I am enjoying doing all this rock work. This piece is the third based on a photo that I took in Maine a few years ago. I really enjoyed all the deep cracks in the surface of the rock and tried to show the depth of that with these last two close up treatments of the image. I am enjoying using the silk papers as well as threads and various fabrics.

New work This work is based on a collage from my class with David Hornung. He suggested that we use collage as a way to work out design problems before doing all the fabric work. because I liked the print on the light brown fabric I used it in this work. It is a very loose weave and so it did not sew quite the way regular cotton does. It took a lot of adjustment and re-seaming to get it to lie flat. I still need to work on the bottom edge.

New Butterfly work At the Diva meeting a few weeks ago Noel challenged me to make a second butterfly that showed off the butterfly’s more. This is my new background for that idea.

Creative Assistants Football season has begun and so has my work on the Creative Assistants. I have about 19 faces done now. I do enjoy this process.

Scrap Happy Twin 1 I am building a set of quilts for some bunk beds for a friend. This is the first of the two. I am only to the step were I add boarders so there is still a ways to go.

Label Block #19 I decided to number the label blocks so I can tell how many I have done.

Keep Creating

Carol

Forest Floor, Mill Site Melody, Rifts, Scrap Happy Quilts

Summer Actions

August 26, 2015 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

These beautiful Morning Glories are from Susan’s garden. I had an unexpected invite to go to Quilt National last week and that happened on Thursday and Friday. That was the reason there was no post. It was a glorious experience and I have a ton of new thoughts and ideas about work.

There were wonderful works by many folks I have seen before as well as lots of new comers. I purchased the book, and I treated myself to a poster with Elizabeth Bush’s quilt on it. It was a good experience.

I did not get busy and write on Wed before we departed because I went to Susan’s with Noel and we had a play day. We did a mimic of the work form David’s class and I have a lot more paper to play with now. It was a pleasant day and we all enjoyed ourselves.

I also spent a day both weeks making silk paper. I have used some of it on quilts already. But my main reason for making the paper is I want to teach a class were the we make the paper and then use some of it to make book jackets.

Progress Report:Rifts

This is the new rock piece that I am working on. It too is another close up of the shore of Arcadia. I am struggling with direction on this one and keep pinning it up with different orientations. Looking is the only answer for me. It is also were I used some of the silk paper that I mentioned earlier.

The process is still in it’s early stages so there will be lots more build up of the surface and changes.

Mill Site Melody I stared this piece at QBL and I am to the quilting stage now. I have had a good time doing reflective quilting in this section and making additional machine drawing in other areas.

These wheat like shapes are based on the images I see in the discharged print image.

Forest Floor I continue to do hand work on this piece. The stitches are beginning to build up with more remaining to be added.

Scrap Happy I finished this quilt this week. It will be a gift to help comfort my friend Tanya who had to have her horse put down. She is quite sad about that and I hope this red and black quilt with give her warmth and comfort.

New Work I took David’s suggestion and selected one of my collages as a starting point for a new work.

The collage only has two pieces of paper in it- but I could not limit myself to just two fabrics. I have added more and as I build I can see I am making alternations in the design due mostly to scale I think. It is a different approach and I like that.

There is no shot of a finished block this week either because I am not done with one. I am off to spend tomorrow playing with another friend working on Gelli plates so I am writing this a day ahead. Summer is just a busy time.

Keep Creating

Carol

Label Blocks, Remote Recesses, Scrap Happy Quilts

Good Old Summer Time

August 13, 2015 admin

Hello,

I am enjoying a bit of a slow down that one associates with summer. I have done a lot of walking and enjoying all the colors of summer. This shot is from Susan’s garden. I have been doing a bit of sorting too. When I put things away from QBL it is always a good time to look at the collections of stuff I have and prepare some of it to pass along to others who can and will use it. Most will go to the school that I once taught in as I know Margaret will use it with the kids.

Progress Report: Remote Recesses

I started this work in Independent Studio at QBL. It is a selected section from the same photo graph that I used for Relinquished Regions. I am enjoy the movement and action in this piece. This work has lots of different textures and materials in it. There is silk fabric, silk paper, wool, velour, and organza, and some imitation leather that Susan gave me when I went to visit her in FL. The cream and white fabric with the orange speckles on it is from the studio sale that I went to two weeks before QBL. I just find fabric every were that works for me.

Free Flight I had started this work before I went away to quilt camp. It did not get quilted until this week. The Butterflies are cut from ground cloth and painted. I then stitched them down with silver thread and did reflective quilting around the out side with little loops added every now and then to represent butterfly erratic flight patterns.

Scrap Happy This quilt is will be a wedding gift for one of my friends sons. I sure enjoy building these and I think this is # 140 of this style.

New Work This quilt is also one I started in independent studio. Some of the fabric is from Randy and the brown pieces with the leaf prints on them are from a long ago week end outing at Mill Sight Lake. I have started the quilting by doing some stitch in the ditch so it is well anchored. Now I need to decide what type of free motion decorative stitching I will add to fill in the rest of the spaces.

New Rock I started a new rock based piece on Wenesday. My friend Tanya gave me some fabric and it just had to be used in this manner.

This work is only the pin up stage and it will change with time. It too is a detailed section of my Arcadia shore shot. A very small section that this shot shows. It is the basis of the quilt for what I have pinned down.

Label Block I am back in the hand work pattern again. Enjoy the slow days of summer.

Carol

By the Shore, Encounters, Foundations Series, Label Blocks, Scrap Happy Quilts, Three Grand Sons

More on Lines

June 18, 2015 admin

Hello-

I just had to post these flowers today. I love both the color and the contrast in textures. I have not been very good about

concentrating on lines as I intended to be this year. But I took a renewed look this week. I was caught by the lines on the street and thought the are indeed one type of line- strait. They are a lines of direction and ones of illusion. They create a feeling of depth on a flat surface and lead the eye back in space. Most art is an illusion and a bit of magic. I say magic because if one looks at the materials ( paint, pastels, fabrics and yarns) that an artists starts with-it is nothing but magic when one looks at the end result.

Encounters 26" X 25" — Encounters
26″ X 25″

Progress Report: Encounters This is my newest completed hand embellished work. I put a postage stamp on the lower left to help with scale. It is a standard size- but I am not happy with it. So I will keep looking for an item to add along the side to help give the viewer a clue as to the size of the piece.

This work has more of the fabric form the discharge screen printing class in it. The dark fabric is a Judy Roberts piece form her monthly mailing. It came in January and I just knew I had to use it with the white material. I think they play well together. I have enjoyed doing the various stitches on the surface of this piece. I only did machine work as stitch in the ditch on some of the seams to hold it together.

By the Shore

I am ready to start to build up the dark sections of this work. I want it to feel deep – not just black so I am going slowly. I like all the textures too

Name Game- Three Grand Sons This is the next one in the series. Stage one here with Nick and Ben. Both positive and negative shapes are shown here.

Gavin shows the second cut of the fabric. It is already getting difficult to read the name. I will slice all three of the names into 4.5″ blocks and shuffle them next and put them all together for the top of this quilt.

New Work This top is all put together now. It seems quite weak to me so I will have to do some wild machine work on top to pull it into a work of some interest.

Scrap Happy Sense I sold one more of my Scrap Happies to Beth and there is a wedding for Barb’s son coming up I started more work on these types of quilts. The one with the red and black centers is all set in rows. This shot is only three rows.

This second with three shades of blue as it’s centers is not as far along When the rows are all assembled . I will make scarp backs for the two of them. They are always fun.

New Hand Work Because I always want to have some hand work to do I laid out and pinned up this new start for my next hand challenge. The white base has a bit of screen printing in pink on it. I added some organza, yarn, silk paper and some of the felt slices I made as a part of a play day with Cheri had last fall. I will be using mostly the same colors of yarn and floss as I did for “ Encounters”.

Spray Painted I plunged in and started the quilting on this one this week. I am outlining the reds and purples and then inventing the areas on the solid units on this top. I am enjoying the process, but I am not sure about what I am doing.

Label Block I just keep working away on these little fellows.

I will be away next week so there will be no post again until July 2.

Keep Creating

Carol

Foundations Series, Heart of Gold, Label Blocks, Patti, Relaxed Energy, Scrap Happy Quilts, Vernal Equinox, Whip Shock Hill #2

Spring

April 2, 2015 admin

Hello,

The trees are still bare, but the sun is shinning and I have spotted several Robins while I have been out of doors, and I even ate my lunch out side today. This shot not only shows the tree but is also shows an aspect of line. A line can change its thickness as well as it’s direction. The more I pay attention to lines the more I am aware of how vestal they are. Lines can be used to express a wide array of emotions. They can be sad, nervous , silly angry, graceful, calm, excited and dancing to name a few. Our culture uses them to communicate with words and images. They are every were when one starts to look for them.

I made Easter Cards one day this week. I took a heavy card stock and on top of that I placed ribbons, yarn and plastic twist. I kept the pallet limited to light spring like colors and then stitched in many directions across the surface to attached the materials. When I felt that the surface was strong enough I cut out the egg shapes. I added pipe cleaner ears and a pome-pome tail to create little rabbits. Then I glued them down to the cards were I had drawn some grass with a green marker. I did leave some of the eggs as just eggs and glued them into nests so I had two different cards. I had a good time and I hope my friends enjoyed my spring fling.

Progress Report: Whip Shock Hill II I am still working away on this piece. I like adding all the texture to the surface of the work. It makes for nice soft color changes is some areas. I am sure I will complete this piece this week.

Scrap Happy 6 &7 The only thing I needed to do to complete this quilt this week was add the binding. That takes me about an hour. This one has center blocks that are all in grays and black and whites, with a few center blocks that have browns in them.

I also completed Scarp Happy # 7. This one has deep red center blocks and gray center blocks. The scale of the prints is much smaller than # 6 so it is not nearly as busy.

Verna Equinox This is the newest piece using the Fabric Collage technique. I am trying to add lots of different fabric textures along with the wrinkle and wad stuff that I have been working on. This piece has cotton, valure, taffeta, silk, double knit, organza, grow grain ribbon, and wide whale corduroy in it. The fabrics alone are lots of textures. I hope I can make it work.

Name Game III – Patti This shot shows the first cut from the brown and gray fabric. The top image is the negative in brown and the bottom image is the positive in brown. I have been very careful in my documentation of this process this time and I will put up a tutorial of the process this next week. Hopefully I will be finished with the work too.

Ribbon Work I stared this new piece trying to play with the same ribbon application technique that was on a piece of red fabric that Susan gave me. The process is slow and I cannot seem to work with the closeness the example has– but I do like the effect. My ribbon is much wider then the example. I am still trying to stay true to my New Years resolution of not purchasing any thing new so I will continue to work with the ribbons I have here.

Flags: Heart of Gold I am continuing on the Susan’s Flag Challenge. This week I tackled the purple stencils. Susan did the rib cage that is on this work. I added more color with various fabric markers. The heart is a small bit of gold fabric that was remaindered from some other project as it was just pinned to the wall.

Flags: Relaxed Energy This is my purple stencil. I selected this pose from Susan’s book because I was surprised that many of the exercises that the physical therapist gave me for my back are also Yoga poses. I added a beautiful glittered nylon net that Susan had purchased in Mexico and given me as a part of this flag. I was also thinking about negative space when I made the stencil and when I cut away some of the netting.

Label Blocks 1 &2 I need to have a hand work project for my evenings. So I stated doing these label blocks again. I did my last label quilt in 1988. Some of the labels I am using are left overs form those works. But I will soon be using only current labels. They are much harder to find now because many labels are printed on the fabric as apposed to added units. If you have any you can send them my way.

Enjoy the days as they get longer and warmer.

Keep Creating ,

Carol

Circuits, Hand work, Rustic Rambles I, Rustic Rambles II, Scrap Happy Quilts, Stretch Works

Sports Lines

February 25, 2015 admin

Hello,

I am still thinking about lines and although this is a shot of tire lines I think it shows one way we see them and do not really realize they are a part of our lives. When I made my list of line types I was surprised by how many were related to sports. Almost all sporting events have a starting line or beginning line and finish line. In Basketball there are center lines, free throw lines, foul lines, boarder lines, side lines. Foot ball has some of these lines and adds yard lines, front lines, boundry lines and line men. In auto racing you add fuel lines, break lines and checkered lines. Other lines in sports include kite lines, trap lines, bow lines and in horse racing you blood lines. I am sure there are lots of others I have not though of too and perhaps I am getting to the point were the lines have different meanings- but line is a very useful tool in art and sport. I went and spent a day playing with Cheri last week. She had some wonderful felted work to share with us. Colleen worked on this barclet for the day. It is more than half done now and I like the colors. Cheri worked on this wonderful spider. Look at the scissors near the top of the photo to get the scale of how large this project is . I spent my day working on my entries for 6X6 for the Rochester Contemporary Art Center fund raiser. Check out the web sight and see the work for sale at $20 for each one or even better send them one of your own little 6″ X ^” creations and join the fun.

Progress Report: Rustic Rambles I and Rustic Rambles II This is the first of the works new stretch series that I am doing. I wanted to try my collage technique on a stretch surface so I an enter it in a art show that is specifically asking for stretched works. I like the effect. There is no batting but I have not been using batting in most of my foundations works for over a year. This work also includes paper that I have done wax resits on. I used the same machine drawing work I have been developing for the last year. These two works are a set and flow into one another when they are hung with that in mind.

Circuits This project is completed now and is 20″ X 30″

This was a fun project to work on in the evenings while I did machine work on Scrap Happy’s during the day time.

I started this with the orange stamped shapes. I used the errasor end of a pencil for the stamp. When the paint was dry I stated to connect the rows of dots together like the welds on a circuit board. I added the orange beads as I tough they were needed to make the idea feel complete. The stitching and beading became more and more complex as I went along. I am very happy with the final results.

Scrap Happy # 4 I am still working away on these scrap quilts and finishing them as time allows. Scrap Happy #5 I gave one away yesterday to the Prevention Net Work. It is an organizations that helps direct high school kids away from drugs. I have starts for two more and then I will set this work aside for a while.

New works I am still struggling with how I want to finish this piece. But yesterday I looked at it and though of my trip to Canyon De Chilly again and think I will try to push it in that direction. This is another experiment I am trying. It really falls into my Graffiti play stuff so I am not sure at all were it is going. But when I give my self the Okay to play some good stuff can come out of that.

I will be away next week so there will be no post March 5.

Keep Creating

Carol

Creative Assistants, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Scrap Happy Quilts

My word for 2015

January 29, 2015 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

I try to choose a word to concentrate on every year and in doing that I find I pay more attention to my actions. Last year I selected EXPLOIT. I tried to make the most of every experience and situation I encountered. I do not know how one measures the success or failure of such a venture- but it did make me try to use each day/event to its fullest. It has almost become second nature with me now. It is time to focus on a new word/concept. I have been thinking about the idea for the better part of January and I have decided to think/concentrate on an art concept this year. I have selected LINE as my focus word/idea for 2015. I will now make a sign for myself to help keep it in sight and focus on it. Look for some thoughts on this topic next week.

I have had a good week. Cris Winter came and we had a great play day. We made Fused Silk Papers. It was fun to play with her as she had lots of different ideas about how to use the silk paper. I would not have inserted the plastic ribbon into the surface without her suggestion. ( the red building has the plastic ribbon in it) I also played a bit more with the shape due to her influence. It is good to explore and try new stuff I think.

Nancy has made great progress on her quilt . I really love how she has developed the mountains. I am so proud of her.

This shot is of the Inside Out show at the Manillus public library. By friend Barbara belongs to the group- that is her work on the left and she invited me- my work on the right. It is a fun show with lots of different types of work in it.

FAB meant this week too. Patti is doing card weaving and creating a great tree pattern with the cards. ( the figures are the back of her project) I never learned how to do this process, but I remember my mother doing it when I was a child.

Progress Report: Scrap Happy # 3 Now the third one in this grouping is complete. I have parts set for three more so these will keep popping up for a while. As I said before I sure love the new open space on my shelves because of doing this project.

Creative Assistants I finished a new batch of these little pin fellows this week. They are just fun and I enjoy the process. About 30 more have faces and will need to be completed this week.

New Work This work is not getting much attention while I am working on the Creative Assistants because it is ready for the hand work and I have been putting all my efforts into the pins. I can see the end of that project so this one will get my efforts soon. I am trying to decide what color I want the thread work to be at the moment.

I hope you are keeping warm.

Keep Creating

Carol

Caramelized, Dry Falls Lichens, Scrap Happy Quilts, Shaving Cream Printing

Active

January 22, 2015 admin

Hello,

This week as been a full one. I went to play day /work shops sort of things two day this week. I printed with shaving cream at Turquoise street studio and now have a new pile of fabric to play with. Then I went off to a Figerative Art event were we all worked for the day on our own projects. This shot is of the clutter on my table were I worked on my Creative Assistants all day long. Marla showed these wonderful doll heads at lunch that day. She will be teaching her water color painting techniques at Artist Doll and Teddy Bear Convention in Philly at the end of April. Check our her blog at : orsinisangels.blogspot.com Its wonderful! I am still struggling with the new program so I do not have all the images I want to share but I have some. I thought I

Caramelized 26" X 33" $300.00 — Caramelized
26″ X 33″
$300.00

had it conquered yesterday- but the new things I wanted to add this morning are not going anywhere. I will keep at it.

Progress Report: Caramelized I enjoyed working on this project. I really used lots of different materializes on this one. There is fused silk paper of course. Some fabric that I printed last year. The light orange pattern on the rust fabric shown here with the gold silk on top. I like the silk screen I used here so much I used it again this week in blues on a turquoise background.

The last technique is some painted tyveck that I placed between two sheets of parchment paper and melted with a hot iron. I like how one is never sure how it will melt and bubble. There is also a little of silk Komona that I got from Ginny in this work.

Scarp Happy 1

Way back in early December my big sewing machine was out for repair. So I got out Grandmother Butter’s Feather weight. With that I sewed up all my scarps and now I am putting them together. I use a sort of Roman strip for my block ( look in the tutorials to see the full process) This one with the blue centers if the first.

Scrap Happy 2

This one with black and white patterned centers alternating with yellow and cream is the second. I am working on the next three using different colored centers and they will appear as I finish them.

Dry Falls Lichens I am to the fun part of this work now. I am adding the lichens . They are created by layering felt on the bottom with velvet on top and then a layer of nylon net on top of that. With this sandwich pinned together I free motion circular patterns on top of all of it to bind it together. I really enjoy doing this step.

New work I made this simple layout for yet another bit of hand work. I found some wonderful plastic shapes that I want to add to the surface by hand so this will serve as my base.

Keep Creating and I will keep struggling with the program.

Carol

Daily's, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Green Grow the Grasses, Grove, Hand work, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Scrap Happy Quilts, Smoke

Spring! April 3, 2014

April 3, 2014 admin

Hello-

Spring is finally showing it’s self her in central New York. Three days in a row of blue sky and sun shine! Tue and I spotted this garden full of spring flowers and it made me smile every time I thought of it all day long. Hurry for the new season! This week has been so very full of stimulation I, hardly know were to start. At the FAB meeting Patti showed us two scarves she had knitted to send off to be given to runners at the end of the Boston Marathon this year. They both were so very soft that I am sure they will be welcome gifts. Victoria had been to a little workshop that Noel is giving. They are playing off the ideas of the necklaces that Mackenzie- Childs sells. The catalogue in the background was the inspiration, and Victoria really put her own spin on it I think. The when I went to the Diva meeting last evening I found that Noel was the gal who is leading this play. She is giving up her rented studio and cleaning as well as trying to create a new workshop for herself. Everyone in both groups loves the idea, myself included so she has agreed to open her space and try a variation with several more of us. I am looking forward to that play day.

The QuEG’s meeting was in morning on Tuesday and there was lots of inspiration there too. We got to meet in Sue Ellen’s studio, always an inspiration place all by its self. She ” wowed” us with six new works! Like all of us she has lots of fabric and these two pieces were created from her first dyeing experience over 15 years ago. She says she did them to try out different quilting patters on similar tops. I think she proved her point.

Then there is the wonderful on going work by Sally. She does such amazing stuff with her embrodery machine. The birds just blew me away all by them selves. Then all the unique nine patch blocks on top were just wonderful too. In addition to that she had a pack of about a dozen 6″ cards that used smaller images. Each card was different and where she used varigated gray black and white thread for this card, many of the cards used different threads for different sections. She pushed the idea further water color pencils to add more color to these small wonders. She gets sure gets miles of usage out of her machine.

Liz is playing with retro fabrics and antique blocks that are six inches on a side. The fabrics and patters sure play together well and are a delight to look at. The small size means it is not overwhelming- but it will sure take a lot of blocks to finish the piece.

Barb is working on this colorful work for her grandson. The dark blue is denim- just the wright thing for a young boy. She is just starting to quilt in the areas around the zig-zag lines- the white is chalk that will disappear when that job is done.

Then there was the Diva meeting on Tuesday evening to add further delight to the eye.

Anne is pushing forward trying unique quilting patters with the works she showed last month. I really like how the horizotal varigated thread seems to disappear in places on this work. Class projects are great places to play with new ideas and explore.

Alice had yet another new wall book to share with us. This one is called We Love the Water. The bid bird is one she hand painted on black fabric. The loon and flying Canada Goose are both from commercial fabrics. I find the way she mixes thous two ideas amazing. Most of the time putting these two things together just does not quite meet the mark- but she does it flawlessly.

Noel is working with thin strips now. All the brown units that are cut on the biases sure add to the challenge here. I like the limited values that she uses here.

She also had a second larger top in this same vain with kits in some of the diamond shapes.

Cheri finished the wonderful work she shared with two mouths ago. She has added a lot of hand work to her canvas painted quilt Fiddle Heads. I really like this work!

The last of the three Scarp Happy quilts was picked up on Friday. It went to the local Public Television Station for their spring auction. I also gave them a small wall quilt. I have done this for years as I so believe in public broadcasting.

Progress Report: Green Grow the Grasses This pale spring quilt is now complete.

Green Grow the Grasses 23" X 32" $260.00 — Green Grow the Grasses
23″ X 32″
$260.00

It too makes me smile as I recall the joy of creating the stamped areas as well as all the free motion flower and leaf forms I put on the surface of this one.

I really feel the sewing machine has become a drawing tool for me. That has only come with years of doing the process, but I want to encourage everyone to keep doing it until it is a natural act for you too.

Smoke

This work was also completed this week. More than once I thought that I was done, and I would hang the work on the pin wall at the end of the day. Then when I would look at it with fresh eyes in the morning I would see easly what else was needed- more hand work for the most part. I had never quilted through silk before I tried this project and learned a lot doing so. I really like how the needle glides through the surface of the project.

I cut up an silk scarf that I had created years ago and was not what I would call a success. All the dark and gray areas are a part of that project. I like the result here.

Grove I am still working on the insertion process. I only have one more tree to add the branches to and then I will start the stumps and setting. I may shuffle the parts I have created too. But I make those visual decisions by looking at the subject.

New Work This is the top half of the work I was considering cutting apart last week. It was not working as it was so I cut it. The black tree is just pinned in place. I did try several other placements before I settled on this one. Again the visual decisions was made visually. I have quilted in the ditch the background sections of this work and plan to free motion in the tree with additional limbs as needed.

Daily‘s I am working away on the these little fellows. I discovered one of the black circle and units from last month in the bottom of the tin where I keep the prepared squares. So I finished it too.

Keep Creating

Carol

Cre-8

Category Archives: Scrap Happy Quilts

Dealing

Line Types

Summer Actions

Good Old Summer Time

More on Lines

Spring

Sports Lines

My word for 2015

Active

Spring! April 3, 2014

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer