May 31, 2012 Trees

Hello-

This week has been a full one what with the Memorial Day holiday and the beginning of summer – at least in my mind.   I went off to a picnic at my friend Beth’s Camp.  It was a glorious day and full of fun, water, boats, food and friends.   Hats and sun screen meant that I came home with only happy memories and no sun burn.

We had brief  Thunder Storm  with lots of wind and noise  pass through our area.  There was a lighting strike  just down the street and the big old oak was hit.  That knocked off one of the big branches and scarred the tree.   The branch was across the street and across a power line too.  We did not lose power until it was turned off for the clean up.  The tree looks old now with the side missing.    The reason I titled this blog Trees was a second event this week where a tree was featured.  That was the installation yesterday of Sharon’s  Tree Quilt at the chapel in the Children’s Hospital.  The tree is made up of  hand  and foot prints all of them came form patients and hospital staff .   The childerns  hands became leaves and branches the Dr and nurses hand prints became  the roots and stalk of the tree.   Sharon used the baby’s foot prints for the ground area.It is 10′ X12′ and quite an under taking to quilt with her regular sewing machine- but she did it and did so splendidly.   The names of the participants are also a part of the colorful blocks that make up this quilt.   Sharon is proud and I think she should be- it was quite a task.                                                                                              Progress Report: Slipping Through  I  am enjoying working on these units to slide through the quilt.  This photo shows the five I have created in various stages of completion.  The fist three are ready to be added to the top.  The fourth shows the strip with the fabric fused to the surface and trimmed.  The next step is to add the yarn to the edges and embellish it with the brad and stitching.  The last strip has been fused but it is not trimmed yet.  I really like the different textures of the fancy fabrics that are used on these units and think they will look good passing through the other parts of this quilt.

 

 

 

Single Drop Adventure Challenge This quilt is  the second in the wrinkle series.  It is complete now. The  blue and brown silk scarf that this work was made

Single Drop 18" X 22"

form was one of my Aunt Mays scarves and very fragile.   from the 20’s I think.   This technique of wrinkling and then stitching it down allowed me to display and preserve the scarf and to feature one of the buttons from her button box.  I do not know the history or any special significance of the button.  But it is a fascinating piece.  I like the three cranes and the tree   branch on top of the radiating pattern.  That pattern effected my choice of quilting pattern.   Although I did not try to make it as regular spaced and uniform as the button I did try to make a flow pattern that moved around the quilt top.                                                                                                                            Purple Power  This quilt also became a completed piece this week.  It had to hang on the door for several weeks while I

Purple Power 19" X 24"

looked at it in order to see how I could conquer the problem of the big white whole in the middle of the top.   My solution was to add the ribbon over the top to break up the area.   The  Shinny squares came first and them the two horizontal  transparent  ribbons.  It is wonderful how the same ribbon when applied vertically reads with such a difference in color.   I added the buttons on to break the squared feeling of this work.   The white area is still a very dominate center area, but I feel it reads more as a window behind now and not a whole in the center.

Layers and Lines  I though this quilt was completed  a  week ago.  But after time and a second look this week

Layers and Lines 18.5" X 20.5"

I felt differently.  The original irregular shape was interesting, but some how not enough.  So this week I added a Shape on the back of the project.   It helps with the balance of the work I think. This shot shows a close up near the top where on can see the  line up of the  pink section.

Nick’s Quilt      I am still struggling with the assembly of the crazy quilt blocks for this work.   I am sure there has got to be an efficient  way to do it by machine and perhaps someone else has it all figured out.   But  I am striving to create my own way of doing so.   The white in the bottom par shall block is my paper  template for size. I do love a challenge.

 

 

Regular Red  I started this quilt last Friday.  It is wonderful when one sort of puts its self together the way this one didIt is trimmed now and ready for facings.   I have had these red paper clips for awhile and I really like the shape they create.  They are what I wanted to feature with this quilt.  As can be seen in the closeup I used that shape as the inspiration for the quilting pattern too.

New Top Untitled

This start happened yesterday.  I used two of the fabrics( the yellow  and the light orange ) that I purchased on  the shop hop tour that I took earlier this mouth.  I may yet change the arrangement of the units of this work as I am in the early stages.  

Blue Blocks  Finally I did work on the Blue Blocks this week as well and here are two new ones.

 

Keep Creating

Hugs

Carol

One thought on “May 31, 2012 Trees”

  1. I love the hugs you keep sending, Carol, and it is a joy to keep witnessing your constant creativity.

    Your Aunt May’s scarves and button are so beautiful and I am sure she would be delighted with the way you have incorporated them into your work to honor her.

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