Category Archives: Three Witches

New Month

Hello,

I hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday.   We had the whole family for the feast, enjoyed each others company  and ate too much.  My Husband and I had the last last of the turkey leftovers yesterday.

At this time of year my only meeting was with the Creative Strength Training group.    I did the suggested assignment of six little works for   abstract and here is my result.

 

 

 

 

The class is drawing to a close and I am working to finish up the work for the Slow Stitch  sub group too.  I did one more little work using paper this time.  The photos is of my mom who passed away 11 years ago now.

 

 

 

Then for my final 3D project I bound the hand work projects into this book.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Poem Tree   This work is 39″ X 38″.   I started it at the Schewinfurth Retreat in early November and finished it on the 30th.     There is lots of free motion machine drawing in the leaves and flowers.

 

 

I machine wrote all the words to the poem by Joyce Kilmer around the out side of the the tree .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meandering Mind Series -Examine    This work is all most done as I only need to finish tacking down the binding on ones side so I am calling it complete for this week.    I need to do the pressing too so it is flat.       I am now doing the quilting on Explore.

 

Hands  I have been working away on this now that I have lots of shots of hands to work on.  I took most of the photos at the same retreat and it was good to have lots of subjects.   I try to do the positive and negative of each set of hands on the same day.

 

 

Three Witches    I think I am done with this work now.  I will be taking it to the framer later this week I hope.

 

 

 

 

 

Blue and Gray  I seem to always need a hand work project so I started this project.   I am exploring using  the Strait Stitch, Chain Stitch the Fly Stitch and  French Knots together here to unify the leftover fused pieces  from some old projects.

 

 

 

Forbidden Fruit   It seems that I am fascinated by pomegranates again.  So I started this piece yesterday at the end of the day and I can hardly wait to get back to it.

 

 

 

Sea Dreams    I did think I was done with the fish theme and then I had this dream of Angel Fish and so I am off and running again.  I am using this plaid that I was given by the daughter of a friend.   Sally Fellows passed away  in early Oct and I helped her daughter empty out the house.

Creative Assistants    I have been watching lots of football so I have been making these little guy again.  I always find it fun to see how they come together.

 

 

 

 

6X6   I know that there will be a call for the little 6X6″ squares for the Rochester Center in the up coming year so I started this one last week.   It still needs a boarder.

Enjoy the season and keep creating,

Carol

 

Forward

Hello,

Fall is all around now.   I did not spend as much time in the garden this fall as in the past and my Hosta went to seed.  I have never seen them before and love the black feather like seeds.    I wonder if I will get any germination.

The reception for the show at May Memorial was  Sunday and I enjoyed talking with folks.   The Creative Strength Training group meant yesterday as did the Pixies.  I also had a FAD group meeting scheduled, but sense Eric was ill, we canceled that one.   He is fine today.

Progress Report- Lap 5  This work is 37″X52″ .   I created the patterned pieces.   I shipped two lap quilts off to my step mother and aunt this week too.

 

 

 

 

Frenzy( rework)     It is  35″w X 33″ t.  After Talking with Jane Donwald about this work I decide to alter the background.    The fish were lost in the first one.   This solution although much smaller is so much stronger.   I need to go back in now and reconnect the eyes on some of the fish .

 

 

 

 

 

Koi in the Kelp I am now doing hand work on this piece.  I am adding eyes and sequins as scales to add texture to the bodies.

 

Three Witches  I need to now fill in the rest of the wraps for the witches and build up some areas of darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

Maneuver Series – Deconstruction I received so  much positive feed about the first three works  that I decided to alter the challenge and try it again.  I am going to only use the complementary colors, but use tints and shades of them in this series of three.   All the white that is showing from the pin wall will disappear under color.

New Fish   I have pulled more metallic fabrics for another Koi piece.  So I made a curve cut background and I will make the fish to go on top.  Having learned the lesson about contrast  the metallics are   all darker.

 

 

 

Mask With October I think of mask and have always enjoyed making and putting on costumes.  This month the theme for Creative Strength Training  is form, and I though I could create a mask to fit that category.     I am having fun,

 

I am going on a trip and will be away for two weeks so there will not be any posts  until Nov 3.    Please enjoy Halloween and stay safe

Carol

 

Fall Abundance

Hello,

Fall is really starting to show up in this part of the world.  Color seems to be at every corner and the fruit is beautiful too.   I love the daily changes this season brings.

It has been a busy week for me.  On Friday, Liz and I went to the Member’s  Show at the Schweinfurth  and saw lots of great work from lots of fiends.

 

I really liked this little collage/ assemblage  by Victoria among many others.   It was a real visual feast.

 

 

 

 

Then I ran the Diva meeting on Tue with lots of new work there as well.   Ann is working away on her newest Yellowstone inspired piece and I am so impressed.   She is aiming for the feel of the heat and I think she is achieving that.

 

 

Therese, our newest member, shared lots of work.  But I loved this little owl piece the most.   She will be a great addition to the group.

 

 

 

 

Cheri and Terri both have work in the Rock Garden show that is up at the Art Center in Homer.   I like the irregular shape and high texture Cheri is playing with in this one.

 

QuEG’s meant as did the Slow Stitch group and they both were inspirational.

 

Progress Report: Blue Water   This work is complete now and is 39.5″ w X 35″ t.    The fish eyes are double buttoned and made with some of Aunt May’s buttons.

I used the metallic fabrics to give the fell of the scales of the fish.

 

 

 

Lap #4   This work is done except for the binding that I hope to finish this evening.  I also plan to send this work off to my aunt in Iowa next week.

 

 

 

 

Lap #5  This work is all pin based and ready for quilting now It will go into the nursing home stack.

 

 

 

 

 

A Little Action   I am now doing the hand work on this little piece.  I want to finish  it by Tue so I can mail it to the Schweinfurth at that time. It will be for the raffle.

 

Koi in the Kelp  All the kelp and the fish are attached  and now I am ready to add the eyes and sequins for added texture and color.

 

Frenzy    I have now cut away all the original background and pinned the fish to the new surface.  I did leave some ” bridges of fabric between some of the fish for stability.  I will cut the “bridges”( brown ) away as I reach them with the zig zag stitching.

Three Witches   I finished the left eye and added the bottom lip among other things this week.  She is beginning to feel solid I think.

Pillow    Because I can’t seem to throw anything away I stuff pillows with the cut away parts from other projects.  This pillow is one example.  The silk embroidery work is from my trip to China with my Mom in 1998.

 

Hope you are all enjoying fall and not working too hard.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Hurricane Ian

Hello,

The hurricanes that have hit the country the last few weeks have raised my concern for my fellow Americans.   So many of my friends live there  and there is  family too.   It is hard to face such destruction from nature .  The water and wind sure makes one humble.   I did talk yesterday with the Pixies who live in Gulfport Florida. Robert was staying in the area and the other two had both evacuated.  My sincere wished go out to all who suffered any loss and I hope you are all back to balance as fast as possible.

For me here in central New York, I am still feeling very positive as I received my award from the Art show on Sunday.   I was delighted by the support I received from my quilting friends too.

The Schweinfurth asked that artists contribute a small work to be raffled to help support the institution, so I started a new piece called “A Little Action.”    I now remember why I only did one work a day and it is a bit tedious.

 

 

FAD meant at Nancy’s on Wed.  It was good to see all of them  and Nancy shared her wonderful new piece.   I think it looks great!

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Wall of Fire    I built up the fire portion of this work this week.  I  think I am nearing completion.

 

Lap 4 This work is all ready to be quilting now.    I am always surprised at how fast the pin basting goes.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 5   I had extra time in the studio on Monday so I started a new lap quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand out  This work is done now.  I will give Ginny first choice on the one of the four that she wants  sense she gave me the wool coverlet that the hand units were cut from.

 

 

 

Consider   I finished the hand work on this piece this week.   Now all three works are complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other two works in the series are

 

 

Contemplate

.and Consider.    They are all the same size  and use complementary colors.   I am going to put them in the Associated Artist show at May Memorial for the month of Oct.

 

 

Blue Water   I have now placed and zig- zagged down the top half of all of the fish in this work.   It is building nicely I think.

 

Koi in the Kelp After consulting with Jane Durawall, I changed the orientation of this  piece and added kelp.   I like the feel of the action much more  and the extra layers of depth it now has too.

Rework -Coy Pond    Again after feeling a bit unhappy with this work I got some critique from Jane.  She had several suggestion that I liked and I finally decided to cut away the brown background and mount the whole interlocking fish unit on a new background of blue and yellow.    I am about half way done cutting away the background now  and think it will be a lot stronger when it is complete.

Three Witches   I had to wait on a friend in the parking lot while she had an in office procedure done today.  So I worked on the right side of the face this morning.  I think it beginning to feel solid.

New Handwork for Slow Stitch    I finished this work early in the week .

 

 

 

 

Then I had an idea for a second  textural piece so I did this work this week too. Texture is my real love so I guess this is natural for me.

 

 

 

 

 

Handwork     This work is part of the leftover fused fabric pieces that I started a few weeks ago. Sense I finished the “hand series”, I  pulled up this work and started it late last evening.

Again my thoughts are for the Hurricane victims.

Carol

 

 

 

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Working Week

Hello,

There is  still a lot of color  here.  I am plant setting this one for a friend who is away and enjoying it a lot.

This week I taught a workshop on Collage Cards at the  Associated Artist meeting on Sat.       Folks seemed to have a good time, created some fun stuff  and we ran 45 min over our allotted time.

I also  had a pixie meeting and a meeting of the Slow Stitch group so I was busy.    The Slow Stitch group gave put out a challenge to do a work with texture.  I have two pieces pinned and ready for work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  Lap 3  This one is finished now.  I also shipped the third lap quilt off to my Aunt who is now in a nursing home.

 

 

 

 

Lap 4   I just seem to always need something on going so I started this next lap quilt on Tue.

 

 

 

 

 

Wall of Fire  I think I am nearly finished with this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Three Witches  The hand work goes on with this work.  I am enjoying it even if it is slow.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Out   I will admit that I have neglected this work this week.   But I am making progress.

 

 

 

 

Little Action   The Schweinfurth  has asked for a small work to raffle in the lobby of the building to help add  funds for the Art Center.     I decided to make a small version of the work  in the show to do this.    Now I recall why  I only did one block a day as the cutting is very difficult.

 

 

Consider    I am doing the yellow handwork on this piece now and then it will be complete.

I hope folks are enjoying Equinox today.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

Rainy Days

Hello,

We are enjoying a series of rainy days here in central New York.     I am thankful as so may are in drought or in flooding conditions.    Here it is just gentle and soaking into the ground for the most part.   I like to walk in the rain too so I am taking advantage of it.

It’s the beginning of the month and I had several meetings.  The Creatinve Strength Training group meant.  The element of emphasis this month is Texture- my favorite so I will enjoy this one.    The Pixies meant and Quilt Divas too.

Barb had a  great little quilt based on a Slot Canyon that I really liked.

 

 

 

 

And Terri shared her news work too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report:  Coy  Fish   This work is 34.5 ” X 35.5″.  I like how this project came out.  I still have not come across my inspiration work, but that is not necessary now.

 

I really like the fish forms and playing with them is fun for me.

 

The second piece with more Coy fish I have  set aside as I am feeling it is too busy. I am thinking on it now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reaching  This work is 15.5″ X 26″.  The color here as well as the textures are what I really enjoy about this piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Out  I am still building on this piece.  I want more hand work here than on Reaching.  I do like the complexity that the spider webs add too.

 

Lap quilt 2  With this quilt I am again using up Sue Elle’s blocks.

There is still lots of quilting to do on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt 3   This is just the start of another lap work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Witches  I am enjoying doing the hand work on these interesting faces.

 

 

 

Feather Dancer   I uncovered this work while looking for another project .  There is so little left to stitch that I decided to complete it.  Getting closer every day.

Fire Wall   With new fires in the west I felt I needed to create a new fire piece.  I got the base fabric from a fellow quilter at QBL this summer.  These layered quilts always take lots of time to build up to the level I feel is complete.

Ponder   I am done with the hand work on this piece now and only have the hand work to do on the last one in the tryptic  to complete the series.

 

 

 

 

I hope the fall is developing nicely for you.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Beginning of Fall

Hello,

It is September and I see that as the start of fall after so many years  of beginning the school year at this time.   This milkweed seems to be agreeing with me as it has started to change its summer color for the fade of fall.  The seed pods look good.

I had a mixed week with only the Pixie meeting this week, and a Dentist an Dr appointments.

The big event was a field trip with the Sisterhood of the Scissors yesterday.  We me meant at   the Memorial Art Gallery on the University of Rochester Campus.   The show was Ubuhale, and it was of seed bead work from seven women from an area in South Africa.     The works were all large mostly  8 Ft by 10 ft and all done with beads.    By the end of the show one could easily identify the work of each artist.

 

 

This gal did not mix her bead colors much, but I love the effects she got.

 

 

 

This woman liked trees and even in her work with the cattle she had a tree as part of the composition.

 

 

All the works took about a year to produce and they were specular!

We all went away  happily inspired.

 

Progress Report: Coy Fish    I finished the binding on this work yesterday evening  and I am now ready to begin the hand detailing.  I did the applique with a metallic thread and a gold colored thread both fed through a big eyed needle.

 

 

 Frenzy   I have built all the fish I want to use on this piece.   But in taking this photo I realize they really do not work for what I wanted to say.    Back to the drawing board…

 

 

 

Reaching    I added the spider web and have started on the leaf forms here.

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Out  I haves started to stitch down the leaf shapes on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

Three Witches   I keep filling in the hand stitching on this piece.   Again the photo helps me see were I need to add more shadows.

 

 

 

 

Drawing    This is the drawing for the third witch.  I think she strikes the correct note for the work.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap Quilt    I have done all the stitch in the ditch work here and I am now adding free motion work in the big areas.

 

 

Cut away blocks    I keep exploring with this technique.  I am doing two blocks every day so this is just a sample.

I hope everyone is enjoying the close of summer and ready for a new school year.   Stay safe.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

Busy Summer Time

Hello,

  As the title suggests I have had a full week.    I ran the Finger Lakes Fiber Artists meeting on Sat.  We had a lot to talk about and share.   I am  sharing  this  work of Bev’s because I think  she   took  a real  chance  here  when she burned the edges  of  this  work  with  a blow torch.   The  effect  really  works.

We had a lively and productive meeting.

There was also  a Creative Strength Training on line meeting , a Pixie meeting and a meeting of the Sisterhood of the Scissors.   I have spent a lot of time setting at the computer.    In addition to that I spent a day at the Schweinfurth helping take down the Fiber Arts show on Tue and I went with Sharon up to 1.000 Islands in Clayton on Wed to pick up her art work from the show there.     Its all been very stimulating,  but it sure eats into my studio time.

  Progress Report: Circling Circles   This work is 69″ w  X 64″ l.   I have stitched lots of circles in this piece and feel it is stable at this point.  It is most certainly a bed topper  piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spider’s Weds  I am done with the hand work on this piece now.  I think I want to frame it  as it is so very fragile.

 

 

 

 

 

Contemplation    I am all done with the quilting step on this work now.  I started to square it for binding when I realized  that I wanted all the works in this series the same size and I did not know how they would all trim down yet.

Consider  I am almost done with the quilting on this work.   I think I have about one more hour and it will be done.

 

 

Ponder   I have taken a page form my class with Paula for the quilting on this piece.  She called these bump quilted l stitch lines fence posts.

 

 

New Work   I pulled these fabrics for the next lap quilt that I hope to start this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Three Witches    I did this drawing to prepare for the stitching of the second witch.    I have transferred the drawing to the surface and I have started the stitching.   I just keep adding stitches to this.  It is building slowly as hand work always does.

 

 

 

I am enjoying all the activity of summer and hope you are as well.

 

Keep Creating

Carol

Summer Days

  Hello,

I hope summer it treating you well.   I am enjoying my walks and savoring every moment of the sun, pleasant temperatures  and gentle winds of the season.   I have had several encounters with wild life this week.  On my way home in the city of Syracuse at about 2:00 in the afternoon, I turned a corner to find a doe crossing the street followed by a young spotted fawn.  It makes one slow down and really look at our wonderful world.  Then on Tue eve when we were setting out on our patio, listening to music and quietly talking, a skunk walked about a foot away from my husband on his nightly food search.  Then Eric had a face to face encounter with yet another Skunk last eve.   No doer either time.

I had my usual meetings with Creative Strength Training and Pixies this week.  There was a special class for  CST called Negative Painting that I enjoyed too.   I have not finished the work for that class yet so.  The Slow Stitch group meant last week and I have finished  two  6″ squares that were the challenge.    This one is the non objective square.

 

This one is the abstract one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are all sorts of extra positive effects from QBL.  For example, I got  a box full of ties to use a raw material from my friend, Diane.   All the ties are gutted now and ready for use.     Here are my new treasures and a new challenge too.

 

 

 

 

I also made a connection with a fellow post card creator,  Becky.   She sent me this wonderful work this week.

 

 

Progress Report: Twilight Crows    This work is 16″ w X 30.5″ l.   I made the work in Valerie Goodwin’s Light and Easy workshop at QBL and finished it this week.

 

 

 

 

I am enjoying the working with crows and the transparency stuff too.

 

 

Brown Study- rework    The work is 24.5″w X 8″ t.  This piece is another project from QBL that I completed this week.  Paula Kovark taught us how to insert quilted  pieces into existing quilts.   The four contrasting triangles show that effect.    She called the effect “suturing “.    It sure makes for lots of fun applications I think.

 

 

 

 

Cattails and Dragonflies   This work is 11″ square.  This project is also the result of Paula’s class. one of her many challenging assignments was to make a continuous line drawing the filled the page.  I was not quite successful with the continuous line part,  but most of it is.   Color and paint were added this week.

Circling Circles  I have been working on the quilting of this work for a while and I can now see the end.  I only need to quilt three more of these circles and I will completed the job.

 

Complementary Colors Tryptic 

 Paula’s emphasis on quilting lines and talk with my friend Sharon has lead to some great quilting with this series.  I am all done with the quilting on Contemplate ( yellow and purple).  Not only did I make the quilting reflective , but I also inserted little points into the lines sometimes.   Now I am quilting on Consider( red and green), and I am starting with the colors them selves and will build out from there.    I will begin to quilt on Ponder this  week with yet another quilting approach.

 

 

 

Handwork  With the addition of a few more beads and stitched I declared this  work done and I will move on.

 

 

Three Witches  I won a beautiful piece of linen as a door prize at QBL the first week.  So I stared a big project.  I am going to try to created a black on white hand  stitch  piece of the Three Witches from Macbeth.   I have drawn one an done some research on faces for the second and third.   I only started stitching yesterday.

Stay cool and keep Creating

Carol