Category Archives: Smoke

Knowing when to stop. March 27, 2014

Hello,

BM27fullOne  problem I  often face when I  paint  is not knowing when to stop work on a painting.   So I often go too far and add that extra tree or bit of red and then  ruining a  work because I am not be able to repair the problem…… I usually do not face that with my fiber work because I can pin things up and nothing is permanente until I make the final decision ans sew then down.    This week I seem to  be filled with lots of doubt about this completion  “thing”.   I can not seem to decide if I am  finished with either of the  two Foundations pieces that I am currently working on.    So I pinned then backward to the wall top-halfand have not looked at the surface  for several days.  I hope when I  face them with fresh eyes early next week  the absence will help me make the decision about rather to go forward or stop.     There is one other little quirk in my mental state as I  discovered a work I had folded up last fall  with a similar problem. (This blue and purple work)botton half  Now it is easy to see that the there are really two haves to this work and they do not go together.   So I think I will slice then apart and try to solve each half independently of the other.  After I slice them in two I will be able to work with each half  to see if I can save all or any portion of the work.  I may still need to rotate the  sections but as seperate units I think my chances of success are much better.

Scarp-Happy-1 Progress Report: Scarp Happy  I have been working on this bed quilt for a few weeks.    It is done and has gone from my life.  The woman from Prevention Net Work came yesterday and picked it up for their Spring Fund Raiser.  This organization works to keep teen off drugs by providing alternate activites for them to work on.  My grandson worked on a play with/for this organization a few years ago.  I am glad to support groups that deal with teens.   scrap-happy- 2

Scrap Happy   I also  passed this quilt to a second auction.  This Scarp Happy  has a diagonal  block lay out.   It is going to the Meals on Wheels of North Syracuse for there benefit.   I was assured that it will sell well and add to their coffers.  Again I am happy to support this organization.

ElectricElectric    This top really went together quickly when I finally got to it this week.  I am now in the process of adding the quilting.  I am using the silk screen printed fabric that I made as the inspiration for that quilting.   It is fun- but very slow as I have to stop so often and change the direction of the stitches at sharp angles.  No  stitching line thus far is longer than an inch and a half and most are under a half an inch.

It is quite a slow  process.Electric close up

 

 

 

 

Green Grow the Grasses  Green-grasses-cl  I am having a good time doing the free motion drawing of the flowers on this quilt.  Some of the  machine drawing is just on top of the print on the fabric and some is just my own creation.   I have also added some leaves to the surface to add interest and varity.

Smoke-cl

 

Smoke I am still working away on this piece.  Every time I think I am done with it I pin it on the wall at the end of the day and then look at it first thing in the morning before I turn the lights on.  That is when I  can see what the quilt needs and thus far that has been more hand quilting.  One cannot rush the process.

 

New Worknew-work Then of course when I do not know what else to do I start a new piece.   Seriously,  I was not done exploring the slender inserts idea and this thing popped into my head just as  I awoke the on Tueseday morning.   So I am off and running with a new thing.

Daily'sDaily’s   These little works seem to be one of the constants in my life at the moment.  Thank goodness for routine.

Keep Creating

Carol

Changing Spring Weather March 13, 2014

snow-treeHello,

The Weather is full of spring surprises.  Tue is it was sunny and 54 degrees here. I enjoyed my walk noting all the bare ground and seeing may birds.  Wednesday morning  it stared raining early and continued  until about 8 am  and then started snowing.  By 3  in the afternoon I only did a shot walk as the snow on top of ice  was a foot deep, slippery  and the slogging was difficult.  Today it is beautiful with full sun and blue sky’s- but a chilly  16 degrees with wind.    Tomorrow it is set to be 43.  All this snow and cold will soon be a memory as we all enjoy the wonderful changes spring brings.

Progress Report:Foundations XI  -Rust and  Rifts

 Foundations XI  Rust and Rifts 30" X 38" $400.00
Foundations XI
Rust and Rifts
30″ X 38″
$400.00

 

I continue to truly enjoy this collage like process of assembling works.   The chance to use so many fabrics combined with how one can twist and turn those fabrics as one works with them is so much fun.  I like too the fact that I can just keep building on top of each section until I get the effect I want.   This means that I can use yarns and threads to produce different types of lines across the surface.  The free motion work adds so much freedom and direction to the surface.

 

Rust&Riftscl1

This shots shows rusty velvet and the back side of one of the rusty colored fabrics. Rust and Rifts  close up 2                                                         This second close up shows the several of the threads that I used on this piece as well as the tucked and folded fabric.   

Rust and Rifts close up 3

In this third  close shot you can see the silk paper the frayed out heavy  fabrics  and threads that are attached.

 

Green Nebula.  I finally got this Green-Nebulafelted piece framed.  I think that is the best solution for felted works.  I think I will work a bit smaller on the next one as so much of it is lost in the framing process.  I did enjoy adding all the bead work to represent planets and stars among the green gasses.

 

 

 

Green nebula-close up 2 The sequins on  this  piece are antique ones from my Aunt May’s sewing box.  They are of a material that is not fractured or as highly reflective as most of the sequins that one can purchase today.   I learned a little bit more about photography with this project.  Both

Green Nebula -close up 3 closeups have flash reflections in the form of  lines near the center and the  full sized shot has a shadow across the glass.    It seems there is always more to learn.

 

 

 

 

 Foundations XI – Stream Bed FoundationsXII -stream-be  I am doing the fun stage of this project now.  I love the free motion work that all of the works in this series require.    I like how the project leads me forward and how much time it takes, because the time means I put it up and look at the work in progress a lot.  I am not real happy with the piece at the moment.   I see that it is too dark- and the one tan area is far too square.    All these problems can be changes and that is exciting to me.Smoke

 

 

 

 Smoke This quilt sort of got away from me as I worked on it.  I did not intend for it to become so large, but the gray silk units seemed to call for that action.  I did fuse inner facing to the back of those same units as they were far too flexible and wandered around a bit with the seaming.  I am now in the process of doing hand stitching on this one.  In my typical style I am letting the surface tell me what to do next.

 Striking Gold I am having lot of fun working on this piece. The base is one solid piece of fabric and thenStruck-Gold I added Lumier painted torn grown cloth on top.  There is also a bit of orange nylon netting on the surface as well as fabric bits.  I then did some hand work with some Taylor’s thread that my friend Judy had given me several years ago.  I also have added some free motion bobbin work to the surface. (The zig –zag lines)  I am enjoying working away on this project.

New-WorkNew Work  All the snow covering the ground has brought my desire to work with spring colors back to the surface.    Just pinning these up yesterday in the snow storm was cheering.  I am going to really emphasis the green this time in the form of long lines to represent grass coming up.

 

 

 Daily’s   I think these little Daily’s are the reason I am doing so  much more hand work then I have been doing past years.  I just seem to get going onDaily's the square and the thing is done.  So picking up another project is a very easy and natural progression.

Keep Creating

CarolblueSky