Category Archives: Foundations VII Fragments

January 23, 2014

Hello,

It is cold here in the north east and that has kept me indoors more than normal.  I really enjoy  the ice crystals on the storm door and I tried to take a photo- but they are not at all satisfactory.  So I will use the old fashion method  and just keep the selected sections of the patterns in my memory.  Staying inside means I worked a lot in the studio however.

Charlotte's Shadow III  19 " X 30" NFS
Charlotte’s Shadow III
19 ” X 30″
NFS

Progress Report: Charlotte’s Shadow III   This is the last of the quilts made with Charlotte’s fabrics.  I even used her stuff on the backs.  These quilts are not for sale as I intend to give them as gifts to the three gals who were her sweet mates at Quilting By the Lake for many years.   I feel I got better and better at doing free motion flowers by the time I reached this third piece too.  One does hope that is what happens at any rate.    I did start out copying the printed image and then progressed to creating my own flowers and leaves to fill the rest of the quilt. Charlottes-Shadow-Close up 2      I did take creative linces and created some of my own flowers near the end too- mostly due to the space limitations and I did not want to compete with the images too much.     I also did lots of swirl and free curves in the quilting to cross over areas and pull things together.Charlotte's-ShadowClose up 1  The whole process was pleasant and I enjoyed myself.  Charlottes Shadow Cl 2

 

 

III Foundations VII- Fragments

Foundations VII-Fragments 38" X 40" $535.00
Foundations VII-Fragments
38″ X 40″
$535.00

 

I am happy with how this quilt looks.  The full shot does not show how it flows for me but the color patterns are very visable.  This quilt has yarn, silk paper, organza and nylon netting on the top of a base built with cottons, parts of a wool jacket, a section of one of my husbands shirts and some very old taffeta.  I really enjoyed mixing all these fabrics FoundationsVIIcl1to get the colors and textures I was seeking with this piece.   The back has been dry brush painted to seal the threads created by all the free motion work.   I did the free motions work with nylon threads and cotton ones to get the colors I wanted in this area too. Foundations VII close up 3              The more I practice sewing with the free motion the easier it becomes.  I am espically happy with the ability I am building sewing down the yarn without trapping it under organza first.  It means that I must move very slowly- but it is worth the effort.

Fractured-close up 4

I also did some used some colored pencils in different areas of this top to add more texture and detail to some sections.  There is a little paint on the surface too.  This new direction makes me  I feel like  I can employ any tool to create the texture and colors I want with these work.  Very Freeing!

 

Tee-shirt-quiltMaya’s Tee Shirt Quilt   I am starting to build the units for this quilt.  Yellow – for Yellow Jackets- is the main color.  I have various patterns and shades.  Then for interest I have inserted narrow bits of black patterned fabric at random locations.    The process is very slow- but I think it will be worth the effort.

Stencils2Stenciling with Shaving Cream     I spent a few hours on Monday afternoon using my stencils to create some new images on fabric.  I created these and several other screens  in October.  I like to do the printing of them in the winter when things slow down a bit at this time of year.  I am espically pleased with the white print on the dark fabric  of these thisel inspired images.  I mix ink with shaving cream and push the mixture through the thermo fax with a credit card.    I  like the slender lines of branches in the gold on the white fabric on the left too. Stencel work-Close up That image is older- but I always find it very useful in my stash.  I will print a second color on top of some of the images in a day or two.

 

New-workNew Work  I decided to do another collage quilt.   I started out with a drawing based on a photo of fungus growing on a rock wall.  Then  is the source of the colors.  I also decided to work smaller this time and the work is only 18″ X 24″.  The fabric is somewhat pinned to the  burckrum and I will start free motion work to tack it down tomorrow.  The   fungus will be added  at a later date.

  Daily’s Daily's    I was surprised to realize that I was at the end of my fifth mouth of creating Daily’s.  Well perhaps it is more accurate to say my fifth set of thirty blocks.  I finished the last red circle with a black L last eve and the next series is a half red circle and two black strips.  New challenges await me.   

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Moon Light January 16, 2014

 

Hello,

Tonight is the full moon, but last evenings moon light  was beautiful too.  The light was so silvery white  through the sky light that I had to go to the window and look out.  Most of the snow had melted, but there was still one drift in the back yard.  The tree limbs cast beautiful blue gray shadows across the snow and my mind catalogued the colors and patterns for a new work.   This morning I did a sketch of the idea so I would not lose the feeling.    I can hardly wait until I have time to begin this new project.

Pomegranate  33" X 46" $535.00
Pomegranate
33″ X 46″
$535.00

Progress Report: Pomegranate I am quitePomegranatecl3 pleased with how this quilt ended up.  All the shadow quilting around the fruit did have a pull on the seams- but I minimized it as much as possible by sewing in one direction all the way around and then doing the next pass in the opposite direction.   All this action made for very slow work.    I also added a spike every now and then to the pattern so there were some strait sewing lines too.   I also tried a little experimentPOMEGRANATEcl4 with the paint on this project.  To give the fruit a little more “punch” I painted clear fingernail polish over some of the red seeds.  Pomegranatecl1      I really like the transparency of the paint on this piece.  It adds to the interest of this work for me.  The paint is fabric paint.

 

 

I'd Reconsider 16" X 25.5" $145.00
I’d Reconsider
16″ X 25.5″
$145.00

I’d Reconsider   I spent a lot of time looking at this quilt before I started quilting on it.  Titles are always a difficult thing for me.   I had been calling this work  Sunshine and Rust- but looking carefully at  the surface-working out the quilt pattern- I noticed the eye shapes in the printed fabric.  I decided to  use those shapes as a starting place for the quilting.    The shape was so easy to quilt and just seemed to flow across the surface of the work.I'd Reconsider  Then when I started altering the size of the eyes to fill in the space it was even an easier process for me.  It took on a life of its own and I went with that feeling.   When it was all done the I'd Reconsidertitle of Sunshine and RustId Reocnsider cl3 seemed  to be a major miss fit.   “I’d Reconsider” seems to work a lot better for me.  I have learned that I will not title a work until it is totally finished from this point forward.

 

 

Charlotte’s Shadow II I am to the quilting stage of this work now too.  It is going to be more in the nature of the fabric that is the main material for this series.  Charloett'sII-cl   I have started adding leaves and finishing flowers on the top at this point.  I will keep working away in this type of style until I have completed the work.

 

Charlotte’s Shadow III  Charlottes-ShadowIII  This is the third and final quilt in this series.  As this shot shows I have only begun to pin some parts to the wall.  I will shuffle them a bit before I begin to put it together.

 

Foundations VII- Fragments   I am still quilting away on this work.  It was pinned to the pin wall and when I came into the room before I turned on the lights yesterday FoundationsVII close upmorning I looked at the piece.  With all the color washed to darks and lights by the laque of light I suddenly saw a section of the quilt that was not working at all.  I had created a whole in the upper left hand side by surrounding a section  with darks.  When I turned the light on it was still there.  My eye is still drawn to that flaw so I will begin the correction today.  That is one really paint/college like quality of this construction method.  I will build over the area that I find offensive a with layers of organza so I can keep the texture.    This shot shows how I am building texture with yarn in one of the areas of this quilt.

tee shirt quiltTee Shirt   I have a new commission piece.  It is a tee shirt quilt.  All the images have been mounted on inner facing so they will remain square when they are seamed together.   Sewing on double knit fabric is always tricky.  I am now ready to lay them out and add the sassing to them so they are uniform in size- like building a log cabin block.  That step will make assembly easy and simple.

Quilt Daily’sDaily's   I believe the daily’s are getting more complex with time.

Keep your eyes open to the beauty around you.

Hugs

Carol