100 day Challenge, Coral Shore, Drawing, Hand work, Pixies Group

Eclipse Week

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Hello,

I, like many Americans got excited about the  Solar Eclipse  this week.    This is a shot from NASA from one  of the satalights .   We unfortunately  had cloud cover and only caught a glimpse as the moon moved away from  the sun.    I am glad so many folks have generously shared their images on the net.

My personal event of this week was  the Spring Retreat at the Schweinfurth Art Center.     I along with lots of friends got a lot of work done.

Liz worked on  her quilts for  the Beds for Kids project.  She made four tops and Pin basted three of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan  stated a  new project.  I love how she uses color in such a unique way.

 

 

 

 

Victoria worked away on  a new project that is based on a collage that she did in David Horning’s class last summer.   It is so different from her usual work , I am excited to see how it develops.

 

 

 

 

 

Linda  worked on this dye painted work and spent most of the time shading and quilting it.

 

She also shared her daughter’s cookie art with us.  Very tasty!

 

 

Sharon worked on her flower quilt and did some dyeing too.

 

I had my Pixie meeting and  I worked on the  assignments for  Finding Fragments the week..

 

 

 

These little fellows will go off with me to Angel’s for some surface alterations this afternoon  as a part of the Fragments class work .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:   B4  I got this quilt top all assembled at the retreat.   The I started quilting on Monday.

 

I am sure I will finish it before the 100 day challenge is over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Art II     At the retreat,  I moved onto putting together the leftover blocks from the Art Blocks project .  This  top got put together too.

 

 

 

BV II     I also put leftovers together from   the BV project.    I have started quilting this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Coral Shores   I am sorry that I cut  off the frames on this picture.   I had to go out side to take the photo and it is raining now so I can’t reshoot.   I did get this work done and I am quite pleased with how they look together.   They will only hang together in the hall – so I have the same problem  with taking a photo there. 

 

 

 

 

 

I will take a  new set  and repost.

 

 

 

Drawing    I did a little drawing this week.  I always have good intentions , but time gets away from me.

 

 

 

Spring is continuing to open up to us here in New York .   I hope the same is true for all my readers.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, Coral Shore, Hand work, Pixies Group

April is Here

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 Hello,

We are seeing more signs of spring- but winter keeps us on our toes with cold and lots of wind too.

I had a really good day on Friday when Liz and I went to  a play day at Marcia’s  studio.  As a result I spent the day  free motion quilting on  Art Blocks and with a little effort on Saturday I finished it too.

Liz took a ride on  on Marcia’s  stair lift and seemed to enjoy it although this photo does not show much joy.

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce quilted on her challenge piece too.   The center section is the fabric that was the challenge.

We had a good time .

 

I meant with the pixies too and it was also enjoyable.

Progress Report: Art Blocks    This quilt is 38.5″ w X 43″ l.   It is the third of my  self suggested challenges for the SAQA 100 day work project.

 

 

 

  I have lots of blocks left over so I am sure I will make another work from them.

 

 

 

SAQA 100 Day project # 4   I drew out the design for this  last week.   It is a much simpler block than Art and I am please to say that all three sizes are assembled now.   I am off to the Spring Retreat at the Schweinfurth tomorrow and I will put the top together first thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethel 4   I finished the quilting on this yesterday.      Now to find a box so I can ship it to Robert.   I only have the makings for one more queen sized quilt with Ethel left overs.

 

Finding Fragments  class   This class is really over , but I am still enjoying working away on the suggestions.  Four of us have a play day later to alter the surfaces.

 

 

 

 

 

Pixies Pieces  I decided to cut up the strips and shuffle them.   Now I am in the process of stitching them to a background.   There is a play day in the future were four of us will be  adding layers of various liquids on top of stitch work so that is were my emphasis will be until that point in time.

 

Coral Shores   One of the pare is done now and ready to frame.  This section is filling up fast.    I really like the textures.

Pillow     I looked at these leftover Blocks from Barbara  Blocks  and decided to assemble them into a pillow.  It is pin based for quilting at this point. The blue felt that I will use a batting and it will disappear when the pillow is done.

I hope you are finding ways to explore and be creative.

Carol

 

 

100 day Challenge, Coral Shore, Hand work, Pixies Group

Springs First Days

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Hello.

We are experiences the wild temperature flotations that seem be a part of spring  around here.   One day we got 8″ of snow and two days later it was 60 degrees.      I am happy to say that my Lenten Roses are blooming now too.

 

 

 

  I had a Pixie meeting yesterday and the Social Art Group had  its end of the year art show.

This painting is by Linda C.

 

 

This necklaces is by Judy Mc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pastel is by Barbara Vural.

 

 

  I showed this Tide Pool work for my entry.   It was a good show and well received.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also sold two quilts this week.   Jeanne   V purchased Barbara Blocks   2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Rena purchased  Totems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  BV Block quilt is now done.   It is 50″ w X  58″ l.    This is the second of the SAQA 100 day Challenge projects.     I am quite pleased with how it came out.    I did get a little carried away with it and due to its size I can not take a flat photo of it.  I will  have to take it with me to the Schweinfurth  next week end and sneak a shot if it sometime during the retreat.

 

 

 

 

Art Blocks    This is the third of the SAQA 100 day challenge projects.   This photo is of the lay out using all three sized blocks.   It is all assembled now and pin basted for quilting.

 

 

 

Ethel 4  I am still slowly quilting away on this project.  I did put    Ethel # 3 in the mail this morning.   It is going to her grandson.

 

 

QSDS 100 Day project # 4    I had extra time yesterday and so I drew out and cut the pattern for the fourth design.  I put the pieces together too.  I was planning on cutting the rectangle off at about 6″ down from the top  and then inverting it and re attaching it to the bottom.   I am not sure that is the way to go at this point.   I think I need to just let it set and make a few more blocks before I decide  on that action.

Coral Shores    This work movies forward slowly.   I like how it is going however.

 

 

 

Pixie Pieces    I believe I am ready to cut the pieces again and re assemble them.   I’ll wait for quiet day to do that.

 

 

 

Fragments- Purple and Blue   This is one more piece from the Fragments class and I have only spent a couple of hours adding hand work to it.  I will keep building for a while.

This week seemed to fly by.   I hope you are enjoying spring.

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, Drawing, Hand work, Pixies Group, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Spring

Hello,

Well the days are getting longer,  but today the weather around here is very cold with snow.  It was far warmer last week.   One can not control the weather so I guess I’ll just smile and go on.   I only had two zoom meetings this week with the Pixies and the Sisterhood of the Scissors, so I should have gotten a lot of studio time.  But I did go and get my covid booster, an RSV shot and a shot for Shingles all on the same day.  My body did not like that  and I lost a whole day to feeling tired and sleeping.  Much better now and I remind myself that getting any one of these diseases would be a lot worse!

Progress Report: BV  Blocks project     I am still quilting away on the project.   I’d about half done at this point.   This part of the   SAQA  100 challenge.

Art Blocks ( middle sized)  This is the third quilt in the SAQA 100 challenge  day project.  We are at day 67 and I am even farther behind than I  was before.  I still have seven of the middle sized blocks to assemble and then I need to do the small version.   I am still not happy with my self about being unable to meet my goals and although I put in time every day I am still behind.

Ethel Quilt # 4  I have started quilting on this project.  But sense there is not dead line for it, this is the last project I tackle at the end of the day.  It is also very heavy to get through the standard machine.   My Phaff Quilter is off at the repair shop due to the fact that the bobbin winder is not working.

Pixie Pieces    I decided to call this Pixie Pieces because the base fabric is one I did with spoon flower in response to a push by the Pixies group.  I am using it with the Finding Fragments class because it has to do with altering the surface and I  did not like how the fabric turned out.

Coral Shores    I keep adding to this work and because I had two zooms this week it got more attention than usual.   I like how it is coming together.

Drawing      I put in a little time in the sketchbook this week too.  It is good to switch gears for me  as it really clears my head.  I need to do that more often.

I am hoping for a warmer spring as the days go longer.

 

Keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, Hand work, Noel's Needle Works, Pixies Group

Progress

Hello,

This week has been a full one for me.     I had a trunk show on Tuesday and it went well.    I had 30 of my works in this presentation and Knight of the Garter  was one of them.

 

 

 

This is a very nice close up of Cave  Men that one of the observers took and sharded with me.   Pulling work for this event meant that  I do a bit of a review of the connection.  I need to move some work out of my life so I am exploring options for that in the future.

 

 

Noel’s Needle Work group meant this week and  we had a good time.    Noel is working on a portrait of her Mom.

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah is finishing a work that really  shows off her stitches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liz, Victoria and I were all doing hand work on the Finding Fragments pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

The Pixies meant and we had our usual lively conversations.  Then this morning I made a drive were I picked up my work plus that of three of my friends from the Schweinfurth.  Both Ends of the Rainbow closed on Sunday.

 

 

 

From there I made my way to Artistic Impressions were I passed some of my Altered Barbies to Susan for sale in her shop.

Dragon Fly Barbie is set to be suspended on nylon string.

 

 

 

 

This a Mermaid with a paper Mache’  rock.

 

 

 

 

 

Medusa is one of my favorite subjects and when my friend Adam gave me these wonderful plastic shapes I just had to use them.

 

 

 

I played a bit with this ” Barbie Chick”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I tried a Sphinx just for fun.  I printed hieroglyphics on the tissue paper that I used to build up the body and then I painted it lightly so they could show through a bit.

 

 

 

 

With the  Harpy  I used squeezy paint to build the surface and then painted over that to unify it.

 

 

 

Then due to the fact that I had lots of left over legs I made the Black Widow Spider.

 

 

 Progress Report: SAQA 100 Day  BV Blocks   I am still quilting away on this project.   I tend to do this at the end of the day when I don’t need to concentrate too much, so it does not get a lot of attention.

Ethel 4   The binding in now on this work.   I will do some additional quilting for stability and it will be done.

 

 

 

 

 ART Block- SAQA 100 days  Block design 3  I am building the new blocks now and I only have five more cut that I intend to put together before I will change the size.

 

 

Handwork on the Finding Fragments pieces    This is the project I was working on at the Noel’s Needle work meeting.  I also work on it in the evenings.

Coral Shores I  just keep adding to this surface and I am enjoying the process.

 

 

 

Barbara Blocks  I now have put together all the leftover blocks from the first SAQA 100 day challenge  project.  I think this will become a small quilt or a pillow.

I hope that I find time to finish something this week.   At this point it looks to be a bit calmer.

Keep Creating

Carol

100 day Challenge, Hand work, Pixies Group

March

Hello,

I saw these on my walk early this week.   It seems  a little early for them to me.   I do love the spark of color that they add.

This week was quiet for the most part.  I did have   Pixie meeting and it was good to talk with them as it always is.   The other event was  an opening at the Edgewood Gallery  for my friend Barbara.  She died before this event but I had talked about it with her before hand and she was excited about the chance to show her work there.

 

 

 Progress Report:  Barbara Blocks II  I finished this second project using more of the Barbara blocks that I made for the SAQA Challenge.  It is 31″ w X 55″ l.

 

 

Again I quilted it using the block pattern as my guide as to were to change the stitch work

 

 

Barbara Blocks III     I still had a lot of the smaller blocks leftover so I laid then out with the one   big leftover block to make this arrangement.  I will sew them together as time allows.

BV Blocks for SAQA 100 Day Challenge     This is the second project for me in the 100 day project.   All the blocks are assembled into a top now and pin basted for quilting.

 

 

 

 

Art Blocks for SAQA 100 Day Challenge  This is my third newly designed block for the challenge.  The design is based on the letters in the word ART  because Barbara and I taught  Art together in the Westhill School district for 18 years.

 

 

 

The tray is full of the first and largest cut block pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finding Fragments project   In looking through my stash of fabrics to work with for the  Finding Fragments class I cam across this pieces that I had sent to spoon flower and was not happy with.  So I took it along to  the play day at Angela’s .

   I added paint to it  and this is the result.

 Then I tore it into stipes and  now I am adding fabric bits and stitches to the pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coral Shores   I am now adding texture to the two pieces that are part of this project.  I alternate very day as to the one I am working on so they will work together when they are done.

6X6 Rochester call  It is that time of year when the Rochester  Art Center calls for 6″ X 6″ works of art to sell at their auction.    I started  a while ago so there is lots more variation in the style this year.

 

Ethel 4     I finished assembling this bed quilt this week and now I am adding the binding.  That takes me abut 4 hours so I will be at it a while.

 

 

Snow Dyeing   We got 8 inches of snow one day ( and that is all it lasted) last week and so I snow dyed again.  Here are the results.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the changing season.

Carol

PS

One more look at Barbara’s works

 

100 day Challenge, Collage, Hand work, Pixies Group

Set Backs

Hello,

Today I want to talk about having set backs.   It is unrealistic to think that every piece one works on will be a success.  Everyone who plays on a team  knows that with every game there will be a winner and a looser,   That certainly dose not stop the players from preforming to their best.    With creating the ends are not so clearly defined.   Many things are good or okay, and only a few are specular.  As the creators, we keep trying none the less  just as athletes do. Then there are short falls and a few specular failures.  It is all part of the game.  On occasion out side influences come into play.    This has been my experience this week.   I have been working away on the Wedding Travel Dress Project for my friend Joyce for a while.  I carefully stitched down the cape and dress top that were originally made in 1909.  This week I started to stitch in the words to tell the story.  I have tried to be very gentle with the old materials, but I had to admit that they were truly falling apart.  I accepted  defeat having only done one line.  I can see that the silk will not hold up until I am done.    With  more and more of the support cloth of brown is  appearing as the old  pink silk falls away, the dress will lose it beauty.   I sadly told Joyce of my decision  on Tuesday.    She was so very gracious about the loss.

My second let down this week had to do with not making my own goal.   When I started the SAQA 100 day challenge, my goal was to design  and complete four quilts, each taking 25 days.  ( the gold is the first quilt)   Each of the four quits was to be made with a block I designed that was repeated three times in three sizes that worked together. This system I learned from my friend Liz, is call a “motif”.    ( the right shot is the motif in the largest block )

Well I think I bit off more than I can chew.   The first one was successful and I made the goal.  This second one however has proven to be a lot more difficult.   What I did not know and have learned, is that the triangles, although they look similar are  easy to put together incorrectly.   This week I have spent as much time ripping out seams as I have putting them in.

 Today is day 46 and I have only completed one block of the smallest motif at this point.       So again I must admit that I will not make the set goal.    I think the project is worth completing so I am not admitting defeat about that part – only the time limitation.   When I design the next block I will take far more care in the shape of the parts.

This week I only had a Pixie meeting and the Noel’s Needle Work meeting.    Liz spent part of the needlework  meeting working on her Finding Fragments  project.

 

 

 

 

Noel shared these fish, her sister made for her.

 

 

 

 

 

I did stop to talk with Adam for a bit on Tuesday and he honored me with this necklace that he had made.

 

 Project Progress: Three Trees   I have been doing this little hand project over the course of several week.

Barbara Blocks II   I am doing the free motion quilting on the second quilt that I made from some of the leftover blocks from the Barbara Blocks quilt project.

 

 

 

 

Ethel 4 I am adding the rows together on  this project.    I only have three to go and then I can move to the boarders.

Collages   I had a good time working on collage projects this week too.

 

 

 

 

 

Can you find the blue face in this work?

 

 

 

 

I used one of the  Sea Grape leaves that Chris brought up form Florida for Barbara’s  floral arrangements for in this one.

 

 

 

Coral Shores   I am having fun with a very limited pallet with this one.  I am also discovering how many little trinkets I have in my collection of stuff.

 

6X6   It is time to ship the 6X6  pieces and sense we can donate 4 this year  I am making one more.  This is not complete.

 

 

 

Finding Fragments Works I am adding texture to some of the pieces that I created at Angela’s play date last week.   I am not done yet.

Stay safe and warm

Carol

 

 

100 day Challenge, Coral Shore, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Pixies Group, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Active Week.

Hello,

   This week has been a very busy one for me.   Last Sat was the FLFA meeting  and although there was snow and attendance was low(only 5 of us ) we had a really good discussions and enjoyed the art that folks shared.

 

 

 

Maureen had a beautiful hand printed work that she is stitching on at the moment.

 

 

 

Sharon is getting ready for her show at Baltimore Woods next month and so she is doing natural landscapes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria is working away as usual with this wonderful piece were she is using some of my Grandmother’s night gown in the piece.

 

 

 Susan has put together the top she was working on at the Fall  Schweinfurth  retreat.

 

 

 

 

 

We looked again at the Both End’s of the Rainbow show and I noticed a work from Therese that had not caught my attention before.  That is the best part of second trips to shows for me.  I get overwhelmed and it is fun to discover new things with a second look.

 

 

 

FAB meant on Tue  and Sharon had another work for the show that she shared with us.

 

The Sisterhood of the Scissors had a zoom meeting on Wed morning  and Pixies meant on Wed afternoon.

 

 

 I put in a little time on Chellie Rode’s class in preparation  for a play day with Angela.     This is one of the projects from that class that she has nearly  finished.

 

She along with Liz Victoria and I were all in the class and so we had a good time  playing with cola pens and inks making marks.

 

 

This is my sample.  We decided to do some stitch work on our pieces and get together in six weeks and add the plaster step on top .    It is so much fun to explore things together.

 

 

 Progress Report: Ethel 3    This bed quilt is now done.  I plan to start to assemble the fourth this week end.

 

Barbara Blocks II     I am only at the beginning of the quilting on this project.    It is the last project I tackle at the end of the day and many times I run out of time before I get to this one.

 

 

 

 

Coral Shore   Pulled out another rock piece form the past to rework for the Joyous Embroidery series.  I deiced to split this one in half and make a diptych with it.  I added the punch needle parts I  made last week on the top and started to do the embellishments around.

 

 

QSDS 100 day challenge BV Blocks    This week I am working on the middle sized blocks.   I have six fully put together and many other parts connected one to another.

Handwork    This little project is going well.  I am sure It will be completed this week as I only have the flowers to finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Past Times  This set of gloves got a ring and now I am ready to start the next one.

It has been a fun filled week and I hope the same can be said for my readers.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

100 day Challenge, Collage, Felt Work, Hand work, Pixies Group, Re Work, Shows

Busy Week

Hello,

This seems to be a very busy time for me.  I started off by going to the Both Ends of the Rainbow Show at the Schweinfurth last Thru afternoon. I always like this show as it reminds me of the fun of teaching and the rich amount of work that is being done here in central NY.   I was surprises by this bit of felting done  by a middle school student.     I enjoy looking at the student projects and trying to figure out what the teacher’s assignment was.

 

  Many of my friends were well represented.     There was these two wonderful works by Marty.

 

 

 

 

 

These two works   are by Sharon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And these works are by     Anne, (   the top brail  piece and Noel’s is the Santa work.     It is a delightful show.

 

 

 

 

 

Then things settled down for me and I enjoyed Valentines day  by meeting with Noel’s Needle Work group.     This work is by one of her friends.

The Pixies also meant on Wed.

 

 

 

Then this morning I  and meant with Joyce to get some information for the wedding travel dress project and got to see some of her wonderful water color experiments.   Her granddaughter has asked her to  design some possibilities for the wedding invitations.   What a supreme compliment.

Progress Report:  Barbara Blocks    This quilt is 32″ 32″.      I really enjoyed working on this project and it ahs helped me process the loss of my good friend Barbara Vural.

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara II   Doing my usual thing I made more blocks than I needed for this project  and so I put together a second top.  It is all pin basted and ready for quilting now.

 

 

 

 

Ethel 3   I have not made much progress on the quilting of this project this week.  The quilting the diagonals across each square takes lots  of time and  these queen sized works are a bit difficult to move under the machine arm.

Tidewater I I think this work is complete at this point and I only need to face it now.

 

 

 

Past Times  I too this project to the Noel’s Needle Work meeting and made great progress on it.

 

 

 

 Collage  I put in a bit of time on collages this week and finished up three.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Finding Fragments Class has really encouraged me to continue to add materials and stitches on paper works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Tides 1 & 2     After finishing up Tidewater II, I pulled another old work and decided to use it as the base for the next work as a rocky shore line for  the subject.     This old work called Whip Shot Hill  has been cut in half and will become a diptych.    I plan to work on both pieces along side one another.

 

 

  I have started with the punch needle step in a very muted pallet.

 

 

 SAQA 100 day project  Day 23    I have designed another set of three blocks that are three different scales with the same shaped  pieces.   This shot is the pattern before I cut up the biggest block,

 

 

 

   I am  using the snow died fabric as my starting  color point. ( dyed it this year after the first snow fall  of the season)   At this point I only have two of the biggest block ( 12″ X 18″) assembled.  This shot shows the blocks with the pieces flipped .

 

Handwork  I intended to use  this bit of handwork as a part of my entry for the  SAQA  raffle piece.  I an not so sure  of that idea now.  I plan to finish and then make a decision.

Keep Crating

Carol

 

 

100 day Challenge, Collage, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Pixies Group

February Begins

  Hello,

We had a light snow earlier this week.  It reminded me of how I use to use days like this one to teach drawing a tree to my students.  I would pass out gray paper dark crayons and a white one to each child.   Using one of the dark colors they were instructed to start an upward line that began a little ways for the bottom edge to moving vertically and stopping about an inch from the top of the page.  Starting again at the base the next line was to run up the paper touching the original line and “Y’ing  off near the top of the first line.   Repeat the second action on the opposite side of the original line.    The next set of lines was to begin  again from the bottom only this time there should be two sets of   “”Y”  on on top and one below the branch.   Line set  four started at the base and went up about one third or less  of the trunk then was to veer hard  slightly upward to the right or left  depending on the side of the trunk were the line began.    The students were then told to add more lines starting at the base and  “Y”ing  the branches  to fill in the tree.   Now I would also tell the students that the snow rested on the top of the branches and so they also needed to add  a white bit on the horizonal portion of the trees.    These drawings although very similar were always beautiful.     The kids trees got more interesting and personal with observation and time.   It was a good jumping off place for them however.

This week was quiet and my only trip away from home was to visit with Angela.     She took  the Bits and Pieces class too and this is one  of her works from that on line class.   She gave me some valuable  feedback on my work and I am doing some corrections now.  Angela is also working a lot with felt and took a class on line were she learned how to make vases and lamps.  These are impressive I think.

 

The Pixies meant as  usual  too.

 

 

Progress Report: Ethel  3 I keep working away on assembling this project.  I have five rows added and seven to go at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 3    This work is pin basted now and ready for the stitch in the ditch quilt work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tidewater II   Angela and Liz gave me some good advice on how to go forward with this work yesterday.   I am excited about it.

 

 

Barbara Blocks  This is my SAQA  100  project  with the top all assembled.   I decided to call the work Barbara Blocks in memory of my friend.   I am sure I will make the 25 day dead line for this now.  I also plan to try a second arrangement as I have lots of blocks left over.

 

 

Past Times  I finished another block for this project.   I will add more handwork to the blocks before I put them together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentines.   I only need to do the message inside to completed these cards.  I will mail them next Wed.

 

 

 

 

Collage   This work is part of the Bits and Pieces  class work.  After seeing what Angela was doing with hers, I was inspired to finish off some of the stuff from the class.   This is the first.

 

The days rush past and I try to pack them with lots of creative work.   I hope your days are similar.

Stay safe

Carol

 

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer