Category Archives: Blue Stone

New Growth

 

PansiesHello-

I am delighted by the amazingly fast changes I see in nature every day.  A leaf may be two inches across on Tuesday and by Wed morning it is doubled.IMG_5739 They all look so transparent too.  It is wonderful!

This week has been a quiet one, with only a few events and most not related to quilting.  I spent a rainy Friday afternoon planting trees with the  Cornell extension and  neighborhood association .    One even got planted across the street and I can view it outside my studio window.

Ice on VincentProgress Report:  Ice on Vincent  After a lot of steaming and pressing this quilt is finally flat and finished.  I really enjoyed working away on this piece.   This time in addition to adding a sleeve to the IMG_5726_thumb.jpgback I have added a pocket with a copy of the images that it is inspired from on it.  After Sharon came and took pictures of my work and the inspirations for a talk she was giving I thought it might not be a bad idea to keep all that stuff together.

 

IMG_5709.jpgI used lots of different colored threads build up the texture of the  areas in this work.      There is also a lot of thread painting to make areas  work too.IMG_5712I liked working with the organza’s for the ice although it does fray a lot.

 

Blue StoneBlue Stone   This work is now ready for stretching.  It is the biggest one I have done that to.   It will be a 24” X 36” surface with a inch and a half deep warp around the edge when it is done.

 

 

 

Wine and CheeseIMG_5723.jpg   This piece is finally done as far as stitch in the ditch is concerned.  Now I am going to do some free motion drawing in the form of wine bottles and glasses as well as cheese in the larger areas to make it complete.  The white is paper patters that I will use to do this task.

 

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Lion King- Coming Home    It has taken me longer to do the hand work on this project then I expected.   I discovered that the head needed a stuffing all it’s own so I had to remove it and a take out the embroidery and do it a second time to get the effect I wanted.

 

 

Memory Map; Columbus Junction    I added lots of details on this piece this week.      This shot is of the little dressing table that I had and a little cabinet that my grandfather Howard built for me.IMG_5715IMG_5717  This section is of the memory I have of Grandfather Howard reading Alice in Wonderland to me every day after lunch before I walked back to school.   He was helping Mon work on the house at that time.

Label Blocks # 56 and # 57  Label Blocks #56-#57 Due to some miss counting no my part I discovered that I had five more blocks then I thought.  Good news in my book.     I also got busy- spring energy- and finished two this week.

Keep Creating

Carol

May Days

 

IMG_5688Hello,

This wonderful little blue flower filled in the neighbors front lawn and made me smile on my walk yesterday.  They are so small only about a fourth on an inch across and so plentiful.   I wore a smile for a long way down the street were it was refreshed several times as I came across several more mini fields of the little blue bundles.Norma

I have had a full week with three days of Quilting Retreat at the Schweinfurth and the meetings of both QuIG’s and Divas.  The retreat was great stimulation.    It was good to see old friends and to see all that folks were doing.   Norma was making hostess gifts.  One of the five she did is in the background of this shot.  IMG_5651  Susan was quilting away at pieces that needed that to be completed.  Great colors here.

IMG_5654.jpg Sally was piecing and assembling a one block wonder that was based on a fish print fabric.  Watching her do the arranging of the blocks was wonderful because  every time I looked up the  work looked different.

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Nancy G. did hand work on one of the row by row projects and this  little quilt of NYC.

 

 

IMG_5663.jpgLinda L used the retreat to add boarders and based a big quilt of 110”x 110” that her sister had asked her to finish.     She had to crawl around on the top of the tables to do all the basing in the center.  LindaThe work is wonderfully complex and will look great on the bed when it is complete.

 

 

Victoria worked with the fabric she had created in Pat Paulie’s  class IMG_5667.jpgin the fall.     This shot is of one of the early layouts.  She made lots of changes before the retreat was over.  I love the bright colors.

Janet

Seated behind me was a gal named Janet W.  She made her fist quilt at the retreat.  I sure enjoyed working with her too.  I think she is hooked.

Lots of wonderful things were going on at the  QuIG’s  meeting too.  Both Linda and Angela were showing off pictures that are going to be inspirations for new work.IMG_5676   Liz is still working away on  the Splendid Simple Blocks project.  Liz's projectgGetting a new pattern every three of four days,  is  that is only a 8” block  is very  doable she says.   She also is working away on big projects too.  I just love this whole silk cloth work that she intends to start quilting soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Most of the Diva meeting went to talk about the up coming show that will open on June 3.  Ruth did a great job with the post card.

 

NoelNoel is doing service project quilts for the  Tow Path guild.   They are beautifully colored.

It is really great when folks  bring works in progress.    That is what  Anne  did.   This  is  a Water quilt anne she shared with us .  She asked for suggestions on how to quilt it.    Now how she quilts chooses to do  this will be interesting to see.

 

 

Lori's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lori also brought a project that is in an early stage.  She  has felted, fused   and already added paint to the surface.  All this before she begins to stitch on top.    I  am looking forward to watching it grow over time because I already love all the texture.

 

 

 

Ice on VIncentProgress Report:  Ice on Vincent   This quilt is in the stretching/flattening stage.  I got help from Nancy Bales at the retreat on how to get it flat and now it is drying after a lot of steam ironing.  Hopefully I will get a back on it this week.

 

Blue Stone   I am still building Blue Stone Close upup the surface with stitching on this work.  I like this process,but it  is very slow and tiring.   Only about three more hours of work until I am done…… I think.

 

By the Shore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the Shore   This is another of Ethel’s  UFO’s I am completing.   This is also my hand work project for the time being.

 

 

 

Wine and Cheese

Wine and Cheese I stared this project to relieve the pressure that all the free motion work on Ice and Blue Stone were creating in me this week.   I did use a lot of the fabric that I had altered in this project.  Most of the commercial  orange is Ethel’s  material.

 

IMG_5703 Memory Map- Columbus Junction  I did not  do a lot of work on this project this week.  I did add the spring flowers however.  I like the Jack in the Pulpit the most.  The Dutchman’s Britches are well shaped, but I wish they were a bit whiter.  Perhaps I will add some paint to the surface.

 

Lion King –Cherrywood Challenge     At the retreat I started this  project.  I had purchased the kit at the Chicago Quilt Festival when I was visiting with Sharron.    IMG_5649  First I did a little research and some drawing.

IMG_5650Then I stated building up the background.  One of the limits on this challenge is to use only the Cherrywood  fabrics.   The pack  was two shades of gold and dark brown  fabric. Most of the piece is to be from these fabrics.   The background is one of the gold’s.  But it is not the full 20” that is required on a side, so I added the gray at the bottom.IMG_5657That is were I will put the masks when they are done.       At the end of day one I did the loin’s body.  I was tired and it was made backward.     Fixing that was the first job of day two. Lion King  I then made the main and stopped working on the project because I want to do the face with  embroidery work.   The whole thing is not due until July so I can take my time.

 IMG_5660New Work  Before I left home I had pulled out all my purples to do a new project using this collage as my starting point.   It is early in the building of this work but I feel I am staying with the feel of it at this point.

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IMG_5690.jpgLabel Block # 50  I will take help were ever I can get it.  The label at the top “ worker pant” is from my grandson.

Keep Creating

Carol

Spring Changes

IMG_5644Hello,

This week has been a quiet one with not a lot of activates.  I have done a lot of work on the computer and getting ready for shows and such and put in alot of time in the studio.  But beyond on that I have mostly enjoyed the rapid transformation that Mother Nature is doing to the plants.  The grass is so much greener.    As the leaves unfurl the long views of the neighborhood are cutting down. IMG_5646.jpgThere is a wonderful feeling of being surrounded/ hugged by the natural world around me.  Every day there are more buds opening and green things sprouting.  I love it.

Progress Report:  Two for You, One fore Me

Two for You,One for MeI pulled out this work started by Ethel and worked away on it this week.  The two trees; center and right were created by Ethel and I added the one on the left for balance. IMG_5641 They were all bare trees at the beginning of the week and as the outside world added foliage so too did I.   IMG_5642

 

Ice in VincentIce on Vincent   I put in a lot of time on this work this week.   Thread painting is a very slow process but I so like how it looks.   IMG_5627  It is another form of texture to me.  I only started adding the ice yesterday.   Fortunately I have several types of organza to build with so I can make the surface look similar to the photo I am working from.

 

Blue Stone

Blue Stone     This work also involves lots of thread work so it too is still  in the building stage.     Again I am adding lots of ribbon, nylon netting, organza and  thread texture to the surface of the piece.IMG_5630

 

 

Memory Map Columbus JunjctionMemory Map: Columbus Junction   This work also got attention this week.  It is also a slow process as I do the machine drawing of specific events and things on this project.  I tried drawing myself as a six year old on tissue paper and then following that lines on the sewing machine.   It took several tries to get a image I am half way happy with.   IMG_5635   I added the nylon netting on the ballet skirt because I remember how very scratchy  it was.  The little matching skirt on my doll is lost in all the netting though.     I had better  luck drawing directly on the organza and then stitching on the lines like on the child climbing the slide.IMG_5636  This morning I did drawing and painting on the organza to create the wild flowers I remember being so abundant  around that house.    Plants I will stitch them down using black thread and they will be a lot easier to see I think.    I am sure I am not the first to try to adding  this type of detail to my work.  I just am inventing as I do not know of any other way to find out what works.

IMG_5640  Scrap Happy   I did work on  this project to balance out the careful intense work of the first three mentioned here.   I have made so many  of these quilts that I do not even need to think much when I am working on them.    Some times I need that type of work.

 

 

Along the Shore       When I finished the tree project I went back into the UFO Ethel box and pulled out this  photo she had transferred to fabric.  The I read an article in the April May issue of Quilting Arts about a way to Make a Mixed-Media Landscape , and thought I would try that technique with the photo.IMG_5633This is what I have so far.  I need  to do some hand work on the surface now.

New Project    A possible title  for this work is Wine and Cheese as the colors suggest that to me.  IMG_5625  It is in the very early stage.  Again it is a process that I know well  and I needed to begin this  to help balance off all the machine drawing that   Ice and Blue Stone require.

Label Block # 49Label Block #49     They just seem to keep getting there little bits of attention and in doing so get completed.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

One last spring thing.   May ApplesIMG_5647.jpg

On Marks

Con trailsHello,

The sky was so full of contrails –  man made marks and I felt I must comment on my focus subject of this year.    Marks seem to be every were when you start to look for them. IMG_5586_thumb.jpg There are marks left by animals  like these deer and raccoon  tracks are that show marks of passing.   But there is a difference between the mark left behind by nature and the marks made by mankind.   Man made marks are a  conscious decision.  There for my con trails are not really marks on the sky as I have defended it.    Because I live in an urban setting   I seem to find most marks   on my walks.    I saw these marks of love in the sand when I was visiting Susan in Florida.  IMG_5352   Then I found these  marks scratched  in cement on a sidewalk. IMG_5335  I observe many spray painted marks.  I talked with a man replacing a  stop sign that had been grifittied  spray painted  yesterday  on my walk.   Then I found these IMG_5396 two in the stair well of the art building.IMG_5397   They all point to the fact that folks seem to be  driven to make marks on surfaces when the opportunity arises.  Think about all the silly doodles around the note pad by the telephone or look at a students  note book at the end of the school year.  Both are covered with marks.    We all seem to have a driving need to leave evidence of our passing in the world.  Even this strange sculpture is a mark of sorts of some folks existence.  IMG_5592    I can’t begin to explain why we leave behind the marks.  I just know we do and I find it fascinating.

surFACEAbout a month ago I wrote about the “ surFACE”  show where artists were given the plastic masks that Cancer patents used as a part of their treatment .  I went to the opening/sale of the art works that came out of that IMG_5570.jpgChallenge and was amazed by the transformation that the artists did with the masks.   This roman fighter was one.  Some artists cut up and distorted the masks like this flat work that became and elegant  type of painting. IMG_5575.jpg  I was amazed by this wonderful grass hopper were the artist mixed the plastic with corrugated cardboard. IMG_5572.jpgThere were several courageous lions. lots of butterflies and angles  among the altered masks.   Over 90 wonderful creations came out of this powerful challenge.

IMG_5609.jpgProgress Report:  Green Grass of Home  This quilt is 22.5” X 45” and a part of the self challenge project. IMG_5614_thumb.jpg The collage that I started this work with is  in a whole different color pallet- and it morphed as it grew, but I am quilt happy with the final results.    When one  enlarges from 4” X 6” to a bigger size one does need to break up things a bit differently.  IMG_5613  I had a good time with the quilting on this work and it is very flat  even though I did sew at 45 degree angles in some places.IMG_5612

IMG_5624.jpgMemory Map- Canyon De Chelly    This quilt is 18 “ X 20”.  It has been missing for several months.   Some how in my frustration with what to do next it got buried in a pile of fabric  and only surfaced this week when I was putting away fabric form my trip to Chicago.  IMG_5616.jpg    I am so glad it got lost because I was so frustrated with it I was ready to throw it away the last time I saw it.  But with fresh eyes I saw what it needed and now I am pleased with the work.   IMG_5617   It mostly needed more definition and needle work.  It got both this week. IMG_5618.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memory Map- Columbus Junction    IMG_5603.jpg  Finding Canyon De Chelly also got me going on this work that was at a stall too.   I have added more detail to the map section and I am in the process of doing the drawing of the figure for this work now.

 

 

 

 

 IMG_5583Creative Assistants    I got busy and finished up 21 more of these little fellows this week.    I was pushed forward on this project by unearthing a small box of necklaces with wonderful  beads for face parts- but I told myself I could not begin to play with them until I had finished all the started pins.   There will be more.

 

 

Ice on Vincent  IMG_5595.jpgI am building up the texture on this work now.  It is the slow step were it seems like not much is happening.  But I love all the thread play and the tacking down of fabric bits and yarns.

 

 

 

 

IMG_5577.jpg Blue Rock   This work is just a little behind the Ice piece.  I am still filling in the base layer for it.   I like selecting the fabrics and filling in the gaps .

Label Block # 48  IMG_5604.jpgThe building of the  blocks keeps on coming.

Keep Creating

Carol