Category Archives: Foundations Series

Good Old Summer Time

 

026.jpg 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.

005.jpgProgress 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 008Regions.    I am enjoy the movement and action in this piece.   This work has lots of different textures and materials in it. 009_thumb.jpg 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 010every were that works for me.

 

011.jpgFree 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 ground015 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.016017

Scrap Happy   This quilt is will be a wedding gift for one of my 003friends sons.    I sure enjoy building these and I think this is  # 140 of this style.

 

New  Work    001.jpgThis 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.

019  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.   020A 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.  021  Enjoy the slow days of summer.

Carol

Summer Days

 

Bubbles at the lakeHello,

Its summer here and I am enjoying the weather.  I spent a day on the lake with my art friends and enjoyed myself toughly.  As the pictures shows we played with bubbles and it was great fun.  I especially like how the bubbles still floating in the air are lightly reflated in the water.

The first TuesdayLinda's work of the month was this week so I had meetings.   First I went to the QuEGs meeting.   Linda is making great progress and quilting on her quilt.    She will be teaching this construction method at her quilt guild next month.   007 Barb was on a completion of work push last month and she showed us four works.  I like this one with all its texture.

009Liz did a shop hop and got into the Row by Row  game along with the shop license plate thing.     She will be busy at the machine for a while now.

Then I went off to theSharon's pannelDiva meeting.   Sharon got things started with her wonderful hand printed  screen.  There is a layer of organza on top with light green leaves printed on it too.

Lori's workLori  was  also on a finish up mission this month.  She completed three of her little works.   This one features a hand made button o the left.   I love how she builds up so many layers of stitching in her work.

Susan 035037  is looking and then working on old work with a new eye.    The dolls were started long ago and the wood cuts were as well.    It is always a challenge to return to unfinished business after time.  Her life style of living six months in Florida  and six months in New York means she does this all the time.   Quite a challenge in its self.

Anne  Anne is doing a powerful job with this work on grasslands and concrete.  I love how the roads add to the broken feeling of the trees.

Alice is working of getting041 ready for

the Art Trail.  I like this happy little fox work the best this time.

We had three visitors from the PEEPs group at this meeting.  They Pirscilla's workkindly showed us their work too.  Perscilla  is working on this great quilt using some of the Mola’s she has collected over the years.  I really like how she put space between each panel  and the red and green patchwork boarder is a strong addition too.

Jean dyed all the fabric 025

used in this piece.   I admire how she used the blue and orange together.

MarciaMarcia explained her  personal challenge for this quilt.   I like how she created great depth with all her own hand dyed fabric.

 

 

Progress Report: Relinquished Relinquiated RegionRegion    After the Diva meeting I felt I had to change the title of  this work.   Formerly it was called By the Shore.    This new title helps give more of a feel for the location.   I really enjoyed working on this project.  Some areas must have eight or nine layers of fabric work087088

with lots of stitches on the surface.   I so wanted the long vertical to be dark- but not black.  Building that area was a great challenge to me.    There are a wide variety of fabrics and yarns in this work: Silk paper, silk  organza, velvet, wool, close up valor, yarn, netting, upholstery fabric, rust dyed cotton and burlap.   If it was the write color –I used it.  Some areas took up to six hours to complete.

 

Working in a man's worldWorking in a Man’s World   Not until I took this to the QuEGs meeting did I see how a turn of 90 degrees could save this work.   I was just about ready to call it a lost cause when some one suggested I rotate it.

   081 The difference was amazing.   This only  reinforces how important having a support group is to me.       083Working

The hand work also adds to the work.

 

075   Name Game IV- Three Grandsons  This quilt also got finished this week.     Each of the boys is done in a different color.  It makes for a nice overall movement.077  I like too, how some of the lines meet across the seam lines. 078

 

Label Block       This block is number 15 in the series.  My pile is building ever so slowly.074_thumb.jpg

Keep enjoying summer and Creating too.

Hugs

Carol

 

051.jpg

Visits

 

Unbroken Circle
Unbroken Circle

Hello,

This quilt-” Unbroken Circle”  is by my friend Sally Dutko.  I purchased it from her before I went to Indiana and I am enjoying it a great deal.   I think I can learn from  looking at the details of  this work.   I made the trip to Sally Dutko’s studio sale before I went off to Indiana.  She has a wonderful space with lots of display areas.   She is an artist I have long admired and I was fortunateSally to purchase one of her works for my self.  I will be very sorry when she makes her final move from this area.   She has given me great advice about my work in the past.

Indiana 15 057I had a wonderful time on my trip to Indiana.  Barbie is a wonderful hostess and we  did a lot during my stay.   We went to a visitors center in Nashville IN and looked at this wonderful Chihuly  among other things.   Indiana-15-013.jpg

This work, “Family Life”  by Susan Else, was a part of a wonderful show at the  Carnegie Center for  Arts and History in New Albany IN.   The works were  all excellent and we enjoyed ourselves.     Got me to thinking about some new approaches too.    Making our viewers choice created lots of discussion among the four of us.

We spent two days in Barbie’s  studio doing silk painting.  Indiana 15 063Indiana 15 076This strong scarf is her work.   Her work is wonderfully complex and she sells them at the Holiday event in town.   My work on the other hand is quite simple.   Barbie has developed this  wonderful stretch technique with pipes, rubber bands, rings and clips.  It is so very flexible that she can adapt it most sizes of silk that she wants to use just by moving the parts around.    The process of adding the guta was was easy and clean.       I have not done this type of thing in a long time and it dose require skill.my silk work

This top one came home with me as we got some work steam set on Sunday .  The second one is still in  Indiana with Barbie.  She will mail Indiana-15-074_thumb.jpgit to me when it is steamed too.

 

Hand work

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:   Hand Work   I  felt I needed to take some hand work with me to Indiana so I started this piece.    The base is a silk screen  I did a while ago.  I did a lot of couching on the surface and then added some of the slices from the jelly roll felting that I did last fall at Cheri’s Blue Moon studio.  I am enjoying the process.

Three Grand sons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Name Game- Three Grand Sons

I worked on this one before I left and again when I got  home.   I  have cut the three names into 4.5” squares and I am in the process of moving and playing with placement now.  When I am happy with that I will stitch them all together.

002_thumb.jpgCurvy Cuts – New Project    I got such positive feed on my work on “Encounters” that I had to go looking through my stash of fabric and make a second starter for a similar project.    I do enjoy cutting the curves more  every time I do it.    I have the other hand work project too so this one will not be seen again for a while.

 

Van Goth    When I went to Van gothMaine  in April I purchased a panel print of Van Goth’s Iris’s.  I though it would be a  good place for me to practice free motion work.  I tend to get excited and my stitches are not uniform in size.    So I have been doing little bits of this picture to help me build some uniformity .

Near the Shore   I am working away on this  piece.  There are lots of Near the Shorebits of different colored fabrics and yarns  building up on top of one another with this one.  I am building  rich color layers like a painter.

 

Spray Paint    When we went to visit Elizabeth she showed us her spray painted works.  They were amazing. 008.jpg  Marty and I tried it when we got home.  Control was much more difficult then we both expected- but we had fun.  I have tried to build a work using some of that material.   At this point I do not feel it is at all successful.  Even adding hand work did not seem to pull the piece together or give it the focus I think it needs.    Perhaps so input from my Diva and QuEG’s friends will help save this.   I am willing to just say it was a learning experience too.

005_thumb.jpgLabel Blocks    I have two blocks this time as two weeks have passed by.

Keep Creating

Carol

004_thumb.jpg

More on Lines

Summer flowersHello-

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

Street linesconcentrating 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.

104 - CopyThis 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. 105 - Copy106 - CopyI 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. 107 - Copy

  By the ShoreBy 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.

090091094 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  New workThis 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 108  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 setScrap II 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   Becausehand work 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 paintedSpray 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.

 

 

092Label 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

Natural Beauty

 

Hello,Moth

This moth was in my yard this week.   I have never seen a live one before and it is beautiful .  Marty and I IMG_3846came across it when we were out side painting on Friday.  We were so taken by Elizabeth’s  spray technique when we were in Maine that we had to try it our selves. It was a lotSpray Painted fabric of fun and we both have a new respect for what Elizabeth is doing.   It takes a lot of  skill to control the application and just folding the fabric is not all that is involved.   We altered lots of different types of surfaces with the paint.  From cotton,  satin to corduroy  and organza.    This play sent me off in a bit of a new direction.

Painted workProgress Report:  Painted Work I got all excited by the painted cloth and so I started and assembled a new top.  It is big simple blocks because I want to feature the painted surfaces.    Adding in IMG_3863sharp quilted lines will really extend and enhance the painted areas I hope.  I am really taken by the sometime crisp edges and sometime soft ones.

By the Shore By the Shore  Now I am to the fun stage with this work as I am building up the surface with colors and textures.  It is so much fun to add all the different types of fabric, paper and yarn to the surface.

IMG_3855Encounters     I am still doing hand work on this project.  The base  is a mix of fabric that I did deconstructed silk screen printing   work on and some of Judy Roberts wonderful  hand dyed material.    It seems to become lost for periods of time and when I come across it again I see it with new eyes.  I think I am nearing the end as I add different types of stitches to the surface.  They have helped me solidify the vision for the work.

New work I am still building this piece.New work  At the moment I am not real delighted with it and feel it is only a background for something more.  It needs a focus I think.

 

IMG_3856Label Block  These nightly practices are moving along.  I am finding it very hard to keep the labels square sense I can not stretch the fabric.  I will not do a  hand project  like this again.

Keep Creating

Carol

Buds Opening

 

IMG_3599 Hello,

I have noticed as I have been walking this week a daily change in the environment.   Not only is the grass growing but flowers are up.    I also see  that spring  flowers are different here than in  mid west.   These white violets are a good example.  ( I have purple ones in the yard too)   Every day the shadows cast by the trees changes as the buds explode out into the sunny world.  I find it exciting to see the major changes from one day to the next.                                                     Cheri I spent Monday playing with Cheri in her studio.   She was busy creating freezer paper stencils, ironing them down  and then painting over them  them.   While she did that I worked IMG_3617on adding a layer to the puppet heads that I made at  Varna  last month.     I added paper clay over the two human heads and the dog head as I was happy with the forms.    I then built up the  bird head with more paper Mache’.       I moved from that to building aIMG_3615 mask with a cardboard base.    The mask seemed to take on a life of it’s own as I started out trying to create a lion- but it seems I have a horse instead.    Cheri suggested a different type of Mache paste and  so I added the paper  layer on top of the cardboard.    I like what is happening even though  it is not were I thought I was going.  IMG_3619  Then the third 3-D project this week was to start to create a new batch of Minions.    I seem to be exploding with my own creative push as I also pulled out and sorted stacks of fabric for six new projects this week.Stacks  This shot shows four of the  piles.    I only have eight yellow tubs for separated  projects and they are all full, that  along with the 3-D stuff and I have a lot on my hands to work at for  a while.

 

Make Visible 23"X 29" $235.00
Make Visible
23″X 29″
$235.00

Progress Report:  Make Visible I am done with this quilt now.   This project started last summer when Susan and I were playing with allIMG_3607 her different  mark making  tools.   I did several different quotes with the  tools and I am now getting around to finishing them off. I quilted the IMG_3609words Make Visible seven times on the surface of this quilt .  Some times I did them in block letters and some times in cursive.   IMG_3608Then did reflective quilting to finish it off.   I used the obi that I got from Ginny in this project too.

Regina’s Blanket IMG_3612This project is made from some of  the wonderful designer samples that Regina gave me a few weeks ago.  It was fun to try her techniques with her fabric.  It is great to snuggle under too.

IMG_3583 By The Shore  I was looking at my photos of the trip to Arcadia  with Barb and Marty from a few years ago.  Among the pictures was a great shot of the basalt along the shore.  So I decided to use it as the start of my next Foundations piece.     This is just the pin up.Paper quilt

Paper Quilt   I came across some papers I had done   as Gelli plate prints.   Two of them seemed to go together so I started this work in the Carol Weibe technique.   It has two cuts in it.  IMG_3589  I had also melted the tyvek that Cheri and I had painted from the week before.  Now there is lots of that to play with  and I may add a little of that  texture to the surface of this paper quilt too.

IMG_3585Flag- Arches   I am using these flags as a place to really play with things I do not normally try.  In this case I used Caran D’ache water soluble crayons to add color.  Then I spritzed it with water.   The word “Arches” is written in  broad line Liquid  Copper magic paint marker by Deco Color.    It did not bleed when I sprayed it with water.

Flag Freedom’s JoyFreedom's Joy With this project I stamped a bird with a foam stamp that I had made several years go and then I used colored pencil on top to enhance it .   I also used the colored pencil in the lines to add motion.  The words are done in permanent marker.

IMG_3601Label Block  I am doing my daily stitch work with this project.    Every little bit adds up.

Keep Creating

Carol

Spring Effects

 

Spring flowers  Hello,

I will admit that the weather and the sight of spring flowers does effect me.    I have been on real “start new” push of late.  I have also been a little upset with one of my pieces- but more on that later.  This week was the Diva Alice's Pellicansmeeting and I was very excited as I have not been to one sense Oct.  The winter has been a bad one and it really kept me home.     But before the meeting  Cheri, Noel and I went to see Alice’s show of her  accordion fabric books in down town Ithaca.  They looked wonderful on the walls.  There were several I had never seen and so I am glad we made the effort to go and check the show out.          There was  lots and lots of new work at the Diva meeting too .IMG_3451Alice is getting ready for the Spring Art Trail and so she had this pillow among other things to share.    This one along with several others that will be for sale on the trail.Lorries work

One of the things that Lorrie does, is deep layered hand work and this is the one she is currently working on.    She builds so many stitches on top of organza and other fabrics to create great depth.  A different sort of collage fabric effect.

CheriCheri is doing wonderful canvas work  were she starts with freezer paper masks and builds paint layers on top and then stitches by hand and machine on top.   The layering isIMG_3446_thumb.jpg amazing to me.   Like me, she always has many things going at the same time and this spider ( in progress) is and example of her  3-D work.   I had given her the fabric that she used for the legs and body and I think that is why she brought it along.  IMG_3444Liese did this soft “Island Garden “ as her entry for a garden completion.  The plants that she stitched are ones that could grow under the sea/ tide/ wet conditions of the area.   Quilting can expand your horizons in unusual ways. Anne

Anne had this specular work to share too.    I really enjoy how she cuts up her photo graphics  to use as strong jumping off points for her work.   I find this piece wonderful!

IMG_3449Noel showed us several works and among them were these two quilts for the Rainbow Challenge for the Tow Path Quilt Guild.  These two along with 22 others will be on display next week end at the guild show in  the Manilas  Library.    Ruth has finished her quiltIMG_3461_thumb.jpg about Kemo Treatment and it is wonderful.  I am sorry that my photo of the full work is not sharp enough to post- but this close up shows how powerful her stitching is.  She has such strong skills.

IMG_3464Then Wednesday, I went and spent the day playing at Batik  with my friend Ethel.   We had a grand time and I now have six new pieces that will be starting off places for more work.  She has  a wonderful IMG_3462piece on the pin wall and I took a shot of it too.  She uses her hand dyes so very well.   I have been watching this one develop over the course of this year.  She keeps moving the pieces about as she develops the idea.

IMG_3471Progress Report:  Whip Shock Hill II  This work has given me a mix of emotions this week.   I had worked so carefully on mimicking  the photo and I liked that portion of the work.   I am done with the stitch workDetail form Whit Shock II and all the textures are down.    But- it does not work for me at all!    So I roll it up on Friday and  decided to take it to the Diva meeting and ask for help.   I am so very glad I did! One can easily get  trapped in there own head and not “see” how to get out ad solve a problem.  When I put this work on the wall next to Whip Shock Hill I    the group could see it was not working too.  But they helped with an easy suggestion.  Flip the  new Full shot of Whit Shock Hillpiece and add it to the other side.     I love the results and I can now add the sleeve and complete the set.

IMG_3418New Start   All the frustration  I was feeling about Whip Shock Hill and the effects of spring pushed me to pull materials for a new work.  I think all of these fabrics play well together and will make a nice piece.   It will be my next project.

  New Start Running Red IMG_3419        I pulled these fabrics at the same time.     I created the red and white fabric in the Deconstructed  Screen Class last fall and I really wanted to use it so I IMG_3421started with that stack.   There is some silk kimono  and taffeta in this work too.   I think  the frustration I was feeling also effected me a bit so I wanted to do something that I felt sure about.   It is coming along nicely  now.

Name Game  III- PattiIMG_3415  This is how this work looks before I started to cut it up.    A little planning will help the next time I do this technique.     And that planning is in the size of the work.    I was so concerned with getting the letters to fit that I was not careful with the size of the base.     In the last two pieces I  stared with  22” squares  and made 5.5” squares when I cut up the two layers.    This time I  made the  base   24 “  and had to make 4.5” squares and I lost some of the image from each row because it did not cut down to even units.      One needs to make the mistakes to grow.    I then pinned the  blocks to the pin wallIMG_3424 And IMG_3425.jpgstated arranging them.  That step took a while and I took many photos of the many  layouts as I went along.   This is the one I settled on. Now I will join them and quilt them together.

Ribbon Work    This work isIMG_3466_thumb.jpg growing slowly.  This is a case were not having a per plan may get me in lots of trouble as I go forward.  I have been just adding one hour’s worth of work on at a time.   But at this point I have no feeling for were I need to go next.  So I am just looking at the work.

Label BolckLabel Block 3
The hand work goes on with  my evening TV work.

Keep Creating

Carol

Spring

 

Tree againt skyHello,

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 Easter cArdsone 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.IMG_3414.jpg

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   Scarp Happy 6 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.

Scarp Happy 7

 

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.

 

Vernal EquanoxVerna 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. Patti

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.

 

IMG_3408.jpg

 

 

 

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.   Susan's scrap 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.

heart of gold

 

 

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.

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DSC00693.jpg 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    Blocks  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 IMG_3411.jpglabels 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

Mud Puddle Luscious

ClownsHello,

My world is headed toward spring.  I heard and then saw   geese flying north yesterday on my walk.  Today it is raining and I am reminded of a line from an e e cummings poem were he described spring rain  as creating a world that is “ mud puddle luscious  and the goat footedNoel balloon man wanders far and wee” .   I will  not be walking today for that reason- too much mud in every direction.   This week has been as full  Saturday I went to a play day were all sorts of things were going on.  Noel and I worked on making puppet heads out of paper Mache’.   Some folks painted like Annie while  others sew  on Anniequilt projects and dolls.

 

 

 

 

 

At noon we had a little show and tellJune were June showed off this fun doll.  She was working on it the last time we got together.  I like the use of the antique wood block as the front of the body.   The hair is cool too.

 

 

 

 

 

Group quiltThis quilt is a group challenge project by the Modern Quilters.  Each person go the same colors and the background fabric.  They all made a row that they then assembled.   Marie showed us what she has started last time too from the online class she is taking called 100 Sheets of Cheep Paper.   This is one of the works she did.Marie's paintings

DSC00655The Social Art Club had a art  show this week and the work was  wonderful.  This piece is a fiber work by Kathleen  Simpson.     I  displayed my chickens as a part of the table decorations for that affair.    Chicken

 

 

 

 

I gave two quilts to my local Public TV Station this morning.  One was one of those  Scrap Happy Golden Weedsthat I  have been working on sense January and the second was      Golden Weeds.  I will be watching the auction and hoping to see the sales of both works.

 

 

This is also the time of year that

Quilt Surface Design Association  calls for donations for their auction so I did a work for that too. DSC00659.jpg

This work is a small 12″ X 12 “.   Easy Flow is ready in the box for shipping and I will go to the post tomorrow and send it off.

Name GameII - Lexi Progress Report: Name Game  II – Lexi,     For this quilt  I used my Grand Daughter’s nick name  as my starting point.  I used the same sew and cut method that I employed last week with Carol.  The big change this time was that Close up 1 lexibackground fabric was a plaid taffeta and that added a different design problem.     I did the quilting on the background just like before with silver thread.      This time I also made the work bigger  before I cut it into blocks.   As a result I have  squares that I did not use for Close up 2this quilt so there may be a smaller one later. I want  to try this type of construction  one more time  so I can try for a writing text instead of a printed letter form.

 

Whip Shock Hill II    This workWhip Shock Hill cl 1 is to be a partner with the first Whip Shock Hill and is based on a second shot of the same rock face just further north.   This images is a close up as I do not think the full work is very interesting at this point.

 

Susan’s Flag Challenge: Spring Onion   Susan and I both have  a DSC00664.jpgdozen flags with the same images on them.  How we choose to finish the works will be a fun comparison study when we get together again in June.   There is crayon drawing on this work and some beads were added to represent soil under the plants.   I learned that one can not add stamped letters over a seam and get a smooth image with this project.   The word onion had to be stamped on  a second cloth and added on top.   Experimenting with new materials and methods is one of the goals of this challenge.   The stamped letters on fabric  is a new thing for me.

MagicFlag Challenge-   Magic   This flag uses my stencil of hands .   I added the crayon drawing of the  swirls and stars then pressed the fabric.  I then washed the whole thing in the blue.     My test this time was done with magic marker.

DSC00656 New work    This work is the next one in the fabric collage series .  There is not a stitch on this one yet- just lots and lots of pins.  It will morph and change as the stitching  and addition of ribbon, yarn and paper goes forward.    I look forward to working on this one.

Keep Creating

Carol

Warming up

IMG_2696.jpg  Hello,

We are starting to see the melting of the snow  around here.  It is beautiful in its own way.  But it can become very dirty and discolored before its gone.    With the longer days I find myself spending more time cleaning and sorting.  I seem to have the  clutter rule  of  “ One   thing in one thing out” well under control in my closet and dresser drawers.   But that is not the case in my studio.     I have piles of stuff all around and I need to do some serious culling.   I know that a clean and clear space helps one get going on the creative work and I do love to walk into that sort of setting.  But I have been traveling and working with IMG_2701_thumb.jpgothers so much of late, that I have let the materials pile as I rush from one play date to another.    I have done a good job a voiding going out and spending money on new supplies and materials however.   I have kept my spending sense January at less then $35.   Not bad for two and a half month I think.  But   it is the gifting of stuff from those friends that is getting me into trouble.      I did spent yesterday with my friend Ethel doing screen dye printing.   It was great to play with the rich colors.  Now I have all the rinsing andIMG_2699_thumb.jpg washing to do today.  She also gave me a couple of yards of white duck…… I am hopeless!

I did work a little on the  Challenge Project Susan and I started in   Florida.  I added a blue wash to this piece and think I have decided on the text that I want to add.  I can  already see that the word part of this challenge will be the most difficult for me.    I plan to add some beads tomorrow when I go to see my friends at Turquoise Street studio.

IMG_2706.jpgProgress Report:  Nail Castings   This project started as a  result of  finding the white  plastic units that hold nails in electronic nail guns.  I was fascinated by the shapesIMG_2710_thumb.jpg of the things.  I have enjoyed working away  with thread out of Grandmother Ruth’s needle  basket  and exploring differentIMG_2711types of stitches.

Name Game 1-Carol IMG_2713.jpg Now I know I say that words are not my strong suit- but I do love the shapes of letters and the spaces around them.    To build this top I first printedClose up of Name game out my name in very large letters.  22″ tall  and 22” wide in fact.  Then I stitched around the letters and cut away the negative space.  I stitched the negative spaces shapes to a second pieces of light blue that was also 22” X  22”.    I found that the letters them selves  created  units of the turquoise  that were too big. So I cut just inside the stitch lines close up 2and  then added those new shapes to the negative space piece on the second fabric.  Next I cut both pieces of fabric into 5.5”  squares and began playing with the blocks.  Some I turned side ways or even upside down, always paying attention to the relationships of one square to the ones next to it.   This play part took me a long time and several days.   When I was happy with it I sewed the blocks together.  This is such a fun and challenging design project I started a second as soon as I had the top  all assembled.

IMG_2698.jpg

Name Game II – Lexi    This  second   top went a lot faster as I knew were I thought I was going.  I made this one more complex by using a plaid taffeta for the background fabric.     I also made more blocks and will not use all of them in this project.    I think this will create a stronger piece in the end.   In this shot some of the blocks are sewn to one  another.  

Memory Map- Canyon de Chilly  cose up of  spider woman I added the Spider Women’s Towers to this project.  I really enjoy working on these Memory Map projects, but they as all very slow in there development.    The ruins are  also attached now too.IMG_2705I am still trying to decide what other elements I want to add to the work.

Whip Shock Hill II      I wantclose up of Wip shock hill  to enter a show where one needs two quilts that relate to one another.    I have been thinking about how much I enjoyed the work on Whip Shock Hill.  The first project shows less then half of the hill so I though I would use this challenge to do the second half.    This is just the roughed out

Whipshock Hill Foundations XXI 44" X 35"
Whipshock Hill Foundations XXI
44″ X 35″

stage.   But I do not think I have shown this step before when it comes to these type of  collage projects that I do.   The base  fabric is only pinned to the buckrum at this point and no stitching has been applied.   This second shot is of the first piece.

I am keeping myself busy as the Spring season gets going.

Keep Creating,

Carol