Category Archives: FAD (Fiber Art Dames)

Boiling Point, Carol, Fabric Collage Constructions, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Hand work, Nail Castings, Name Game, Owl

Florida Holiday

March 11, 2015 admin

Hello,

I am home from a week in Gulfport Florida. I really enjoyed the new sceanry . There was so much to look at my eyes could hardly take it all in! From the shore with lots of bird forms to the sky and the plant life- I was a shooting fool when it came to taking pictures. I just love how this split pine looks and I am sure it will turn up in some work at some time. Then there was all the art. We went to a show of work by Geoffrey Gorman. He builds wonderful found object sculptures of animals and birds that include wire and canvas that he has aged with rust. His work was wonderful.

Susan took me to an opening at the Florida CraftArt Gallery, where both Oiseau Sisters had pieces. This shot shows Susan with her birds. She and I played in the studio every day. I did Gelli prints with Lora on Tuesday. I used one as a base when we went to drawing on Wed eve. Susan and I designed and then started a flag project. We each made six stencils and printed two of each. These are my images. At the end of the week we traded one of each of our images for one of each of the other person’s works. Now we will both work on the flags as we see fit and when we meet again at the June Diva meeting we will compare how each of us has altered all the images. We designed it to be an open exploration project- trying new materials and techniques. It will be fun I think.

I worked away all week on this owl stitchery project. It is nearly complete now. I had intended to work on a piece that I brought form home, but I did not do a stitch on it. The first day Susan pulled out one of her bins of fabric and I got inspired. Something about some one else’s materials I suppose.

Tuesday was a FAB meeting and after a month of not seeing folks we had a lot to talk about. Nancy is making great progress on her bed quilt( this shot shows the center section folded up as it is all the stripes. ) Now she will build more images on top.

Progress Report: Boiling Point

Boiling Point 16" X 20" $225.00 — Boiling Point
16″ X 20″
$225.00

This project went together quickly just before I left. I am still using the fabric collage technique that I used with the Foundations Series, but it not based on any stone this time. I also did all the work on canvas this time and then stretched it around to the back of the stretcher bars before tacking. This first close up is near the center of the work. I used red, rust, gray and dark green velvet in this work as well as satin and silk fabrics. The more I play with the layering and folding of the various fabrics the more I enjoy the process. This second shot is near the middle on the right. A little copper paint adds fun.

Raw edges here add another texture to the mix,

Name Game 1- Carol I cut the work into 6″ square and then reassembled it. I am only going to show this close up this week because the only step that remains for completion is the facings and I will complete them for next week.

Owl I am showing the completed owl that I did in Florida as I am going to send it off to the framers this week and shooting through glass is as strong as a strait shot. I really enjoyed working on this. I tried lots of varieations on the fly stitch on this work. The vanes in the leaves are fly stitches all connected to one another. The tree bark is that same stitch on its side and interlocked with its neighbor. The wing tip is shown here and it is made from a pair of textured panty hose. The pin feathers on the chest are woven copper ribbon that has been tacked down with open fly stitches. The claws are made from fake leather that was frapped. The found objects that started this whole work are the chroched rings that are the whites of the eyes. The orange is a bit of bias tape and the black is a sequin held in place with a french knot. The beak is created from the same fake leather as the claws.

Memory Map- Canyon de Chelly I am still strugling with with were this project is going. But I feel closer then before. Adding Spider Women’s towers ( on the left) will help anchor the work I think.

Nail Castings

I am still fasinated by the shapes of these plastic parts. I enjoyed tacking them down with lots of different types of stitches. the shapes just tickled me.

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

Agate, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Felt Work, Foundations Series, Foundations XXIII Water Marked Sandstone, Memory Map Quilts, Spill, Yellowstone

Quality

October 23, 2014 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

Leaves continue to be a big part of my daily dose of nature. But I want to talk about a Jewish Proverb I came across in my reading this week. “The Quality of life is fuelled by our productive wealth.” That idea has been on my mind while I have been walking for the last two days. To begin with I really think that my life is a rich and wealthy one, but I think even though I am productive that is not the only thing that adds meaning and value to my life. Quality is strongly related to context. One can have “Quality Time” and for me that can mean just

time spent listening and interacting with a friend or child. A big part of that quality comes with the focus of that time- no distractions or concerns for other things. When I was making the halloween costume for my grandson- (some video game character that I do not know anything about)- that” one on one time ” with him telling me exactly what he wanted and helping with the sewing machine work was real quality time. I spent quality time talking with Nancy on Wed at the FAB meeting when there were only the two us and we got to telling stories about our youth to one another. That shows a quality of trust too. (She is making progress on her quilt and the sky with the clouds she made in silk paper on that sky is great. ) Then there is also quality friendships like the one I share with Nancy and a few others. There is a degree of necessary quality in all our lives for things like shelter, food, good quality air and water- without those assuredness none of the other quality things can come about. We need those quality ingredients to be healthy and to fully appreciate the degrees of wealthy excellence our lives hold.

Agate 23" X 36" $300.00 — Agate
23″ X 36″
$300.00

Progress Report:Agate I finished this work this week. It has been created from a big piece of silk paper that I made with Ethel a few weeks ago. The most difficult part of this project was deciding what side of the silk paper to use- they were both so lovely. I had a good time attaching the silk paper to the quilt with many hand stitches. This project was created with silk hankies that were hand dyed before I put the paper together. I might not have selected these colors to use together on my own, but I sure like them and will try to add this type of mix to my own way of thinking.

Spill This quilt is coming along nicely now. I love all the textures on the surface of this work. This shot shows silk paper- two types the sheet form (on the far left) and the flow form(the green blue at the top) , the iron melted mylar( the turquoise ) and iron melted plastic bag( the apple green). The whole thing has been fun for me.

Watermarked Sandstone I am still doing machine drawing on this work but I can see the end is in sight. Again I am playing with texture- my favorite thing. There are “nodes of iron ore” in the image and so I have created some solid rust colored circles to add to the surface of the piece. Before I can stitch them down I need to add rust colored paint to the surface to show how the water wears away the iron too and in so doing it stains the surrounding stone.

Yellowstone Memory Map I so enjoyed creating the Sandstone Church project that I thought I would do a second memory map type quilt from my childhood. When I was seven, my Dad was a summer ranger in Yellowstone National Park at South Gate. I have wonderful memories of that summer and want to try to put them into this new project. This is layer one and it too is ready for a paint layer to soften and unify some of these parts.

I hope you too are enjoying the fall color and creating fun works.

Hugs

Carol

Alpine Lake, Chrysamthemum, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Golden Weeds, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs)

Fall Leaves

October 9, 2014 admin

Hello,

I so enjoy fall, not just the color- and this year it it wonderful, but one of the best things is the sound of walking through the fallen leaves. The crunch, the swish, the crackel, all those sounds and the earthy smell always seems to bring me warm feeling of golden days and slowing down. A heightened feel of awareness of the wonder of the world we live in. I love it.

These beautiful flowers are a gift from my friend Noel. They sure bring the colors and feel of the season into my dinning room.

This was meeting week for me. Tuesday QuEG’s meant at noon. Everyone had lots to share. This shot is of some electron microscope images that Linda thinks she may use as starting points for some work. All of these are various liquors.

Liz is just home from a two week trip to Ohio to Nancy Crow’s barn and a workshop in using Graffiti and Lettering. She had a pile of altered fabrics that she has created that will keep her busy working all winter on just this topic. This one is called “Art Boys”. It sounds like she had fun.

Barb continues to work on her crazy quilts. I really like the Victorian feel this one has. She will have some great family remembrances when she is done and what a great way to collect and display the little bits one seems to collect from family members- like pins and such.

Angela is busy dying again. I love how she uses her abilities to get such wonderful work. This work has several layers of dye on it. These scarves are for the hostesses who are doing a baby shower for her grandson later this fall. She is so wonderfully generous with her work.

Sally is back at her embroidery machine creating wonderful cards for Christmas and fun family gifts. This strawberry is her own design and a family gift. She always give the kids $ presented in a unique way. This year the cash is wrapped inside the layers of the toilet paper inside the berry. She also went so far as to machine embroider the family’s name on the first sheet of each roll. Too much!

Sue Ellen and Corrine are both doing finish up work. Something about fall I think, we want to tidy up a bit before the confinement of winter. Corrine had three wedge cut baby quilts that she was finishing.

Sue Ellen had three distinct, but traditional quilts she had finished and this wonderfully fun Sea Horse piece she created. Each panel in the horse body is a different print and they are all connected with metallic cord that has been zig zaged in place.

Then I went off to the Diva meeting. Cheri and several others of us had spent a few days felting last month. Using materials she produced at that time, Cheri has finished a felted vest for her grand daughter. She used one of her jelly roll slices to create a pin too- its on the right. What fun!

Marty went along with me to the meetings and she showed one of her wonderful Nebula quilts. Everyone is amazed, myself included, in all the bead work and her tiny button whole stitching. She told us she used over 400 beads on one of the nebula pieces. I enjoy how she uses hand dyed fabrics too. wonderful images.

Liesa is working on her Map quilt. All the trees and buildings are in place now. She says there will be more quilts like this one of different locations.

Anne had lots of work to show- four pieces I think. She is getting ready for the Ithaca Art Trail that happens this weekend and next. I like this little whimsical piece the most. So much freedom and action here.

Noel had a wonderful little work that again displayed her techinque. She makes all the blocks and then can try out several arrangements before she puts them together. I like this layout myself.

Susan is getting ready to fly south for the winter. She sold one of her unique little birds that she showed us at the last meeting. Because she wanted to commemorate that event she did these four little paintings of the birds saying good bye. They sure project the happy smiling feeling that Susan always brings to every situation.

Then there was a FAB meeting yesterday morning. Nancy is making great progress on her Flower Bed quilt. She uses big prints and strong colors so very well. This is about one fourth of the top. I can hardly wait to see the full effect.

Patti is doing beading. I love this wonderfully designed small bead- it is only about one fourth inch long( that is the grid of a cutting matt it is setting on) This is the first for a bracelet that will have at least eight unique beads similar to this one .

Chrysanthemum 39" X 48" $675.00 — Chrysanthemum
39″ X 48″
$675.00

Progress Report: Chrysanthemum I am very happy with this work. I used lots of the wonderful silk that I had pruchased from Ginny – most of the reds and purples are her fabrics- and I used the fabrics I had printed on as well. I am still playing with the off square cutting and piecing with this work. It creates challenges when one is quilting and putting sections together, but I am enjoying the process.

I had a good time with the free motion quilting on this work as too. I started with the center most blossom and sort of followed the shapes and forms of the flower to unite the layers of the work. This photos shows how I extended the quilt lines out to finish the petals were need be too. I did total free designing of the flowers in various sizes to fill in all the spaces that remained. I enjoyed this project, but I will admit that I will back my silks with interfacing the next time I use them so I do not get quite so much uncontrolled movement of the seam lines.

Golden Weeds This quilt is having a second life- a sort of face lift. I thought it was done three years ago- and it was OK- but when I was considering work for the Man In the Moon show and I had pulled it out- I thought this just is a good background. Then it hung on the wall for a few weeks. While on a walk, I was taken by the beauty of the Tessel weeds along the road side and thought they were strong enough to stand on top of the old work. First I machine drew in the heads and stems of the plants in a variegated thread. Then I looked for a stronger unit to place on top of that work to make it appear as though some of the plants were even closer to the viewer. I found this copper colored woven ribbon in my stash and felt it would do the job. By adding folded satin ribbon for stems the job was complete. The work is a lot stronger now and I just added a second label to give info about the additions and name change on the back.

Alpine Lake I started playing with the idea of creating a landscape of a mountain setting with a lake. It is all created on top of buckram- so it will not wrinkle up on me – in what I am starting to think of as my college style of construction. I am not gluing anything down, but building from the sky forward with the image. I attach all the parts with machine drawing that adds texture and detail to the work. It is a process that I am enjoying.

New Work blue This is just a background- done this time on purpose- that I want to play on top of. I have some vague ideas about where I am going, but I am still in the sketching stage.

New Work- wavy cuts This top is the same as the one above it. No plan other than to see if I could use wavy cuts in this piece. This too is pure experiment.

I am having a good fall and enjoying walking in the leaves, keeping my eyes open for ideas and just soaking in the sun shine.

Keep your curiosity alive.

Carol

Daily's, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Foundation XX II - Elsie's Rock- Cape Cod Stone, Hand work, Harmony, The Road Less Traveled

Paying Attention

September 11, 2014 admin

Hello,

When one needs ideas for solutions or inspiration I believe one has some choices. I was struggling with part of the Stone Church project. There is a old cemetery that is a part of that area and I wanted to include it in my piece. But I was having trouble so I took a walk in the near by cemetery to refresh my mind. I was surprised by the presence of the deer. There were two actually and the cemetery is surrounded by city on all four sides. Looking at how compact these stones and how much they overlapped has helped me formulate a solution to the work I must do on the project.

Sometimes the ideas are as much about paying attention as anything else. There was a FAB meeting at my house this week. Folks showed their work and Victoria is moving along nicely with this quilt. She got inspired by Ginny’s silks that she had purchased a few weeks ago. They are shown here in the orange and gray strip. ( I got inspired by that same orange silk) I think the shadow of the leaf looks wonderful too. She also showed a top that she had assembled for a bed quilt that she is making for her new house. I am so impressed by the large number of prints she uses and the colors. I would not have put that strong orange with the turquoise myself- but I love the combination. So by paying attention to this little surprise I now have a jumping off color combination to try in the future. The real trick here is to note the surprises and in my case write them down. I do that in my idea journal and it helps me when I need to get going with a new piece.

Progress Report:

Foundations XXI Elsies Stone - Cape Cod Rock 43" X 44" $595.00 — Foundations XXI Elsies Stone – Cape Cod Rock
43″ X 44″
$595.00

Foundations XXI Elsie’s Stone- Cape Cod Rock The Road Less Traveled

I am finally done with this project. I love all the texture on the surface of this wonderful stone. I am very grateful that Elsie gave me this parting gift. The many fascists of its surface with the limited colors make it fascinating to me. I think I could revisit this rock and work from a different side too.

I used yarn , nylon netting and lots of torn fabric bits to produce the colors and textures. There is also my favorite silk paper at work on this piece.

The Road Less Traveled

I started this quilt in Rosalie Daces Color class at QBL. I have finally completed the process. I used many of the techniques she taught us. I did insert slender curved lines into sections. I let colors “bleed” or flow across seam lines to make connections. I used raw edges to add texture and I hand embroidered across parts of the surface to draw sections together. Even using all thoughts techniques I did not use all the techniques that she taught us. As a teacher she has a lot to share and she does so very willingly.

I enjoyed using these

earthtones and I will continue to pursue the techniques she taught. I am still not happy with size of my slender inerts- so there is work to do there.

Stone Church

I already mentioned the bit with the cemetary so I will not cover that again. I added lots of machine lines on the roads as they were gravel and I remember how there seemed to be lots of “tracks” of the tries on them. I remember too that Grandmother Ester liked to drive down the middle and only pulled the turquoise ford over when she could see a car coming toward her.

Harmony I am done with the assembly of the form of this quilt. I decided to use the character that

represents Harmony for the central focus and so far I have just quilted around that shape to create the quilting pattern. I want to fill in the character with black hand stitches/ patterns so it stand out. But I have not come up with the correct stitch to do that job yet. So I keep looking in books and paying attention to the world around me and hope that I will find inspiration. Until then the project will just hang in the studio awaiting the correct solution.

New Work In Valeri’s Goodwins class she had a do a fabric ” sketches” of 4″ X 6″ before we started work. So in keeping with using the best the teachers have to offer I made the sketch first. This is the one I selected as my jumping off place. I wanted to use the big printed flower I created a few weeks ago as a big part of this work. Now I am in the process of pinning up parts that I think will work to do the job. I have split the two flowers apart and added parts of a third to the design. Very few parts are connected or solid in its position at this point . This is fun but scary part of the process- but I need the challenge.

Daily News This project is finally complete. I have now sewn all the blocks closed and will continue to play with placement for as long as the process interests me. This will be the last post where the project will appear because at this point all the finished units have been appeared at least twice and some more times then that. I have enjoyed doing a daily sewing pieces and it is very true that the whole is made of of lots of little parts. If I had started out with the intention of making 180 hand embroidered blocks I do not think I would have done it. But by making small manageable units- it as a doable task. I have been encouraged by Susan to submit this idea as an airticle for Quilting Arts so that is my next project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Daily's, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Foundation XX II - Elsie's Rock- Cape Cod Stone, Ju Ju June, Rafter Room, The Road Less Traveled

Sharing August 21, 2014

August 21, 2014 admin 2 Comments

Good Habits 21" 32" — Good Habits
21″ 32″

Hello,

As fall approaches I feel the need to “tidy the nest” a bit. As a result of that feeling, I have been sorting out old works and finding new homes for them. So I took along this quilt when I went to the Dentist and it is now hanging in his office. It took a min. before he saw the tooth brushes. He was delighted and so was I as the work was only setting in a dark closet before and I think art should be out in the world. I feel so fortunate that I can share in this fashion.

This week the FAB group went on a field trip too. We visited the home studio of Ginny Spina to see her silk /Komona collection. It was wonderful. Her home is beautiful and so are her gardens. She sells on etsy at www.silkhouse.etsy.com. We got to see and handle the silk. Nancy even tried on one of the Kimono’s that had arrived in the mail that morning. Victoria and I both purchased some of her scarps and now I have a new pile of fabrics and the ideas are flowing. Nancy purchased on of Ginny’s scarves and her custom designed pins that day as well. We all had lots of fun and made new connections.

Progress Report: Ju Ju June

Ju Ju June !8" X 30" $190.oo — Ju Ju June
!8″ X 30″
$190.00

As I predicted this quilt is now complete. There is lots of experimentation in this piece. This is my first attempt at using only canvas as the fabric base. I also had full control of the colors and patters on that base and although I really enjoyed that aspect I do not feel like I explored it fully. So I need to keep putting myself in that position and dealing with that challenge. I also feel I need to do a similar project again because the process is still very much a mimic of Katie Pasquini’s process. I did enjoy mixing the metal with the gathered ribbon “flower” shapes and the beads.

Rafter Room This quilt is now hanging over the door to the rafter room were it will remain for it’s life time. Because it is summer I am not aware of how many drafts it is stopping, but I imagine it will do the job in the fall and winter. I really enjoyed doing the free motion work on this project. It was not only fun to trace the shapes printed on the mud cloth it was fun to extend them out into the blank areas. Then I went forward to drawing and filling in the blank areas as well. I think that I will look at pattern with a little bit of a different eye- and notice more details as a result of this project.

I got to use up the end of one of the fabrics that I had created in Judy Langele’s class at QBL 2 three years ago too.( It is the bottom of this work with the blue gears and dark violet in it)

The Road Less Traveled I am still doing the free motion work on this piece. I am trying to sort of soften the hard seam lines with the machine work. I will add hand work as well.

Foundations XXI- Elise’s Rock/ A Cape Cod Stone This is a rock that Elsie Dents gave me. She has moved to Pennsylvania and we will miss her strong graphic bird based work in the DIVA group. She was cleaning and found this stone that she had collected on the beach at Cape Cod and thought of me. So she brought to me at the last meeting that she attended. I like the strong lines across the stained quarts so I am using it as my jumping off point for the next Foundations work. I am still working with the out side shape of this quilt part as well as the light and dark on the surface.

Daily News The news goes on and on. I am enjoying the playing part of the process now. I thank Barb every time I finish a block because her way of completing the process is so much faster than mine.

Keep Creating

Carol

Daily's, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Three Trees

Enjoying the Spring June 5, 2014

June 5, 2014 admin

Hello,

I have been enjoying being out of doors and doing lots of yard work this week. Being gone always means lots of catch up for me and that seems to be how I have spent most of my time. That and meeting with my friends that is. The first Tuesday of the month was this week so I had the usual QuEG’s and Diva meetings plus the FAB group has moved to the first of the mouth too. It is good to see all my friends and it is very stimulating.

Barb started off the QuEGs meeting with her three “sliced block” tops. She sure seemed to be having fun with them. Then we moved on to Linda who is taking an on- line class where she is doing prep work for a quilt about her Irish Grandfather. The notebook is a work of art all by it’s self I think. She is collecting lots of ideas to work from for the project.

Then we looked at Liz’s strip blocks. It is a memory quilt using her friends father’s shirts. The outside strips of each block are from the shirts. The florial prints in the centers represent the friend.

Then we looked at Sue Ellen’s work. This new fish quilt of hers really is a joyful one I think. This photo does not show it- but the green has a wonderful reflective quality that really adds to the feel of water in this piece.

Next we looked at Sally’s wonderful work. She has finally finished piecing her “One Block Wonder” top. I love how she used the fabric in such a way that the quilt goes from light to dark in a diagonal sweep across the top. She continues to work hard on her Machine Embrodery too. All the lemons are drawn in thread as is the green sprig and the pie crust. Her work always blows me away.

After the meeting I drove south and picked up Susan who is now back in Central New York and we rove to the Diva meeting together. Where I got my second jolt of creative stimulation. Sharon who is going to graduate school had lots to share. Photos, prints and quilts as she prepares for the many art shows she partisipates in during the summer. She is one busy gal.

Donna is taking a class in Spirit Cards and this a shot of one of them. I am sorry that there is so much glaire here. I like too how all the groups I belong to are so accepting of a wide varitey of different materials as well as styles.

Anne peresented this finished piece at the meeting too. I think the machine work really adds a lot of secondary interest to the surface. I admire how she uses her fabrics.

Susan spent six weeks in Mexico and she built this day journal of that event. She challenged herself to try lots of different techniques on six inch pellon squares with each square representing an event for each day of the trip. I think it is a wonderful way to stay on track and to be creative at the same time. This close up shows foil she found in Mexico behind the painted and cut out pellon sheet.

The FAB group meant this week as well. I taught them how to make silk paper. This shot shows Victoria working at that. Nancy made clouds with the silk roving that she intends to use on her new bed room quilt as a part of the sky.

Victoria and I are in a color class later this summer. She is preparing for that by doing a bit of progressive dying for that project. I think this color run is great. It will be fun to use them in class later.

Patti is the owner of a new pin loom and she has been weaving away. She loaded it up and started a new project during our meeting. I can hardly wait to see the finished piece.

I like all the color that she is using here. With all the visiting going on, I did not do much work on my own stuff. I am OK with that one needs to fill the well every now and then.

Progress

Three Trees and a Singer 21" x21" $80.00 — Three Trees and a Singer
21″ x21″
$80.00

Report: Three Trees and a Singer The title of this quilt has changed from just Three Trees to the new one because I added a black bird. It is very small in this image, but it is there on the far left tree about half way up. I added the bird last because I thought the work needed a little reason to look with a bit more care.

The bird is in this closeup. The trees are all based on pictures I took in the winter of trees in my backyard. The trees are all full of leaves now I am glad to say. The photo to the left here shows all three techniques that I used to create the trees. The brown is a wool I started with and the black is yarn that I stitched down on top of the wool. Then after I had stitched together i sewed it to the background. Then I loaded the bobbin with thick tread and from the back I free motion drew the limbs onto the surface of the quilt. I enjoyed creating this quilt.

Daily News ( Formerly Daily’s) These are the last of my Daily’s. I say that because I feel I have learned what I needed to from this project. I am calling the work Daily News because I worked on the pieces every evening during the time the news was on TV. Now I have to figure how what to do with the pieces I have created. I have 240 four and half inch squares. They are not finished so this can’t be the end. I do not want them to simply end up in a box and I do not want to simply sew them together as I have enjoyed placing them next to one another in various arrangements. I am thinking of several possible solutions and I will spent this week making my final decision about that during this time. That and planning the next possible mini challenge.

I hope the week ahead is full of good creative time for all.

Hugs

Carol

Daily's, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Foundation XV New Direction, Foundations Series, Foundations XVII Granite, Foundations XVII Obsidian, Maya's Tee Shirt Quilt

May Day, May 1 2014

May 1, 2014 admin

Hello,

Happy May Day to you. For me May Day brings up memories of making paper tube baskets that we filled with wild flowers and perhaps a bit of candy. Then we hung them on the door knobs of neihbors homes. That was when I lived in a small town in Iowa and I am not sure if that practice still goes on today.

I went to a FAB meeting last week. Patti is being very propductive and had a wonderful rust colored ribbon knitted project she was working on as well as having completed this wonderful shaw on her loom.

We also looked at and talked about Victoria’s silver leaf quilt that was pinned to her studio wall. She is setting quite a challenge for herself with this project I think. But it will be wonderful when she is done I am sure.

Then I went to Angela’s where she and Linda were playing with soy wax for a second time. Linda spent the whole time doing the waxing step, but Angela did apply dye while I was there. She had dyed several things earlier that day and then added more soy wax and black dye over the blue to what she is doing here. I can hardly wait until next week to see the results of their work at the QuEGs meeting. There will be another soy wax day I am sure so perhaps I will get in on that one.

Progress Report: Foundations XV- New Directions This quilt is the first of the irregular shaped quilts that I have finished. I think I mentioned last week

Foundations XV New Directions 27"X 44" $360.00 — Foundations XV New Directions
27″X 44″
$360.00

that there were problems with getting it to remain flat. The paint I add to the back to stabilise that some what. But I feel the there is still is a bit of a problem. I plan to take it to the art quilt meetings next week and get some help with that. I really enjoyed all all the color and the the many textures that ended up in this quilt. I find myself looking and looking again at it on my wall. I used a varigated thread on this work too and that adds an additional interest to the surface of the piece.

Foundations XVI Granite 19" X 29" $195.00 — Foundations XVI Granite
19″ X 29″
$195.00

Foundations XVI- Granite I also finished off this work this week too. It was too far along to adapt to the off square format, but I usually think of granite in a square shape any way. Even tumbe stones are a slab most of the time. I do not think I have ever seen Granite when in was not”dressed” in some way or another. There are lots of colors in granite and I tried to show that with this project. I used mostly silks, velvets and satians along with the a few cottons in this project. Again I used lots of varigated threads here as well. I also used some of the silk paper with this piece.

Foundations XVII- Obsidian

I am only showing a close up of Obsidian as it is so close to being completed that the full thing will be available next week. I was working on so many pieces in the Foundations series at one time that I got mixed up about the number system. This really is the 17 in the series and not Granite as it says in the Categories. I will have to wait until I have another lesion from the computer specialist before I can correct that mistake.

Maya’s Tee Shirt Quilt I am to what I consider the fun part of this quilt now. I did stitch in the ditch between all the tee shirt sections. Now I am doing free motion around the images. This one is in the center of the quilt and I will work out from there until they are all completed. I only did the free motion work on two more before I ran out of time yesterday.

Necklace III I am still playing in this format. I love making the flower format. This one also has unique metal connections on the ends( the black units) They are old belt connections from Grandmother Ruth’s sewing box. I think they add a bit of glamer to the work.

New Work In and effort to push myself beyond the necklaces I created a new work that needs a lot of hand embellishing on it. I went to my texture box and found the silver fabric already backed with wonder under and added it to the surface of some of the watermarked satin I had pulled up to make flowers. Then I found the ground cloth with lumier paint on it and added that to the surface as well. I just kept adding until I felt that I could only finish it with hand work….. but I have not started that yet my attempt to fool myself did not work. At least not yet.

New Iris Work

This also came out of the idea box and I started it because I was in the studio at the end of the day and the pin wall was empty. The Iris fabric was already cut so it was just a matter of pinning up what I had already done.

Daily’s More of similar works as last week. I plan to work ahead this week as I am preparing for a week trip to Paris o n May 14th. I do not think I want to take this project with me, so that is my solution.

Keep Creating

Carol

Daily's, Electric, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Out the Window, Stencels, Trees

Spring Warmth April 10, 2014

April 11, 2014 admin

Hello,

Spring is really here! I went for my walk today with out a coat. I even ate my lunch on the patio today. It was around seventy and the sun was shinning. It made me feel glorious.

I had a busy week end as I took at three day workshop with Carol Soderlund( www.carolsoderlund.com) called Waxing Eloquent. It was about how to use soy wax and build up layers of dye on fabric to create great depth. We had a grand time and the three days flew by. In this first shot the teacher is holding my experimental piece. I had tried this before several years ago and I am more excited about it on this second attempt. I sewed the prepared fabric with to two layers of batting and normal thread on the top and a wash away( water soluble ) thread in the bobbin. Then I painted the soy wax on the “mountains” of the project and painted the dye in the valley’s. ( the work is at that stage in this first photo.) We all brought along a big supply of tools to apply the soy wax to the fabric. I enjoyed the old calulator plastic and the empty spool a lot. After the wax was dry we applied the dye to the fabric . This shot is of Linda who was setting across the table from me. We worked all afternoon at adding wax and color to the pieces we had started. This shot is of my pin wall in the middle of the afternoon. By the end of that first day the floor of the room looked like a magic carpet shop where the pieces “batched” all night long. We then added more soy wax to the surface. Things were really getting lucious at this point. This piece is by a new friend, Peg. The big circles in the wax were created with a sponge that had a hole cut in the middle. To fully use the dye, Carol had us layer the fabric in two and three stacks. I folded over several of my pieces and so I had softer second pieces and there was much less dye to mop up when the pieces were picked up off the plastic sheets.

There is a little problem with the water soluable thread- the dye also causes the thread to disolve. So before I put on the second layer of wax I had to cover the valley area of the surface to keep the white.

There are several ways to remove the soy wax from the fabrics. One is to iron the fabric between two pieces of newspaper and this should always be done first. This process was done with my work and then it was placed in a boiling kettle of water. All the milky color is the soy wax in the pot rising to the top. The water is then carefully poured out of the pot and the fabric is ready for a hot was in the machine. It is OK to pore the water soy mixture down the drain because the soy wax is a natural product and will bio degrade. I was surprised by the color change. This photo shows some fabric( at the top that did not have the color washed out and the thread is still attached) and the bottom is the final color of the washed and ironed fabric. The green color came from the blue dye added over the yellow dye of the day before. It will still be a fun piece to do hand stitching work on top of.

This shot shows several of the fabrics that I washed out at home on Monday.

Then on Wed I went off to visit my friend Ethel and we did more soy wax work. She has a wonderful electric Jaunting tool and I used it on just about all the pieces I worked on yesterday. I wrote several bits of poetry as well as drew with the tool. Great fun! They are still batching and will be on the blog next week. Ethel is working on a wonderful piece on her pin wall. It is about 50″ wide and 60″ long at this point. I love the intense colors she is playing with here.

Then the FAB group meant at my house this morning. Patti is doing this wonderful portrait of her mom. She is still in the building stage without any of the pieces stitched down, but I am impressed. She told us she is using the front and back of some of her fabric to get the tones and shades to match her photo.

Then we did a little work with the silk screen so the gals could get the hang of using acrylic that was thinned with GAC 900. ( a Golden product especially made for use with fabric.) It was also a chance to play with a deconstruced screen as I had used Elmer’ s school jell on the screen to create a pattern. These are Nancy’s prints. I will continue to print with the screen until the image is mostly gone and I can show the others the effect at our next meeting.

Electric 19.5 " X 31.5" $215.00 — Electric
19.5 ” X 31.5″
$215.00

Progress Report: Electric I finished this quilt last evening. All the stopping, changing direction and starting sewing quilting patters made this project take a lot longer to quilt then I expected. I used the images I had created with the silkscreen print as my inspiration. I started quilting around them first to get a feel for the shapes. After I had done this it was a bit easier to create similar shapes on my own in the other areas of the quilt. The fact that my machine as a needle down position for the stop helped with this process. But there still is a lot of quilt were the printed images is not avaiable for a guide.

Out the Window This is my solution to

Out the Window 16.5" X 21.5" $125.00 — Out the Window
16.5″ X 21.5″
$125.00

the quilt that I cut in half two weeks ago. Last week I had decided to add the tree and I tried it in several locations before I decided on this final resting place. After I had stitched the wool tree to the quilt I loaded my bobbin with black embrodery thread, and drew in smaller branches from the back. The whole picture makes me think of looking out my friends window in Brookline where the next building was so close there was hardly any space between the two. But a young tree had grown up there anyway. The nine patch from the origional quilt looks like a near by window too, so it adds to that feel.

Foundations XV- New Directions I have been struggeling with this work for a while. When I took it to the Diva meeting last week Alice asked ” Why are you keeping these Foundations pieces square?” After considering that idea I have decided to try to alter the shape. Hense the new name on the end. Here is the process I am now trying to see if I can grow from an existing rectangle format.

First I add some additional Buckram in the shape I think I want to add. (I put the brown fabric behind so to allow the Buckram to show up.) Then I build up the fabrics on top being sure some crosses over the original surface and i sew it down as I normally do. I like the fact that this method allows me to change my mind a lot as I work. I already know I want to change the left hand side and the top edge. I will know better what the piece needs as I look at the progress.

Grove I did not do a lot of work on this project this week. There has been too many other things demanding my time. But one more unit was completed. It is also at the back of the stack of work pinned to the pin wall so I run out of time before I unearth it many a day. I only have one more tree to create here before I need to move onto the next step

New Work

I have pinned the fabric to the buckram for this new work. I have the detail to show that when I begin the stitching down of the piece I start near the center and do not totally finish even that area until later. That allows the work to change as I progress through the work. I had cut the buckram before I decided to try the new shape, so I will at least start out with is as it is and let the piece grow with the work.

Daily’s I seem to be doing more stitch work with the Daily’s as time goes along. It is still enjoyable and something that I look forward to every evening.

Keep Creating

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: FAD (Fiber Art Dames)

Florida Holiday

My word for 2015

Quality

Fall Leaves

Paying Attention

Sharing August 21, 2014

Enjoying the Spring June 5, 2014

May Day, May 1 2014

Spring Warmth April 10, 2014

Spring! April 3, 2014

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer