Category Archives: Bacterial Bloom

February 20, 2014

Hello,

It is thawing here and the sound of  dripping water from melting snow  has been going on all day.  The street is running water and directing it toward the storm drains.   I find it is cheering as though Spring may in fact come.  The fact that I herd song birds this morning helps with that feeling too.   I have worked in the studio  a lot this week.

Blooming Bacteria 24" X 38" $320.00
Blooming Bacteria
24″ X 38″
$320.00

Progress  Report : Blooming Bacteria This quilt is based on an image from an electron miscrope of bacteria- that is were the name came from. It   has taken me a long time to complete as I had to make each one of the black button whole circles by hand with a small crochet hook.  I know I started it last fallBlooming Bacteria close up 1 when I was taking my  grand son to Physical Therapy.  I then  stitched the units down to the surface.    The free motion work in the red is called pebble quilting and it really unified the quilt.  I did reflecting quilting around the outside of the circles.  This quilt also has a Bacteria Blooming close up 2background  that is curved pieced .   The red is a hand dyed piece that I received from a fellow quilter.    It was only a fat quarter and I used every bit of it that I could in this work.Bacteria Blooming Close up 3

 

 

 

Foundations IX Spring Moss 19.5 " X 26 " $ 180.00
Foundations IX Spring Moss
19.5 ” X 26 “
$ 180.00

Foundations IX Spring Moss  This work in the foundations series, was influenced by that spring desire I felt last week too.  It is also loosely based on  a shot I took of some Granite a few years ago.    Like most of the works I have been doing in this series there are lots of raw edges and a tron fabrics here.  The dark green is Dupni Silk.  It frays so  much that I saved all the threads and applied them to the surface as well.   I continue to use the silk paper I created last fall.  I am looking forward to warm weather whenFoundation X--cl-1 BF20-X-Closeup-4 I can go out doors and create more- it is too messy  do inside in my dry studio.   I used lots of different colored thread when I was doing the free motion work on this work.  Some apple green, yellow green, yellow and pink to get the effect I wanted for this piece.  Foundations X-close up 2

 

 

 

Foundations X   When I could see that I would soon finish with Foundations XI - Foundations IX- I started thinking about the next one in this series.   I was trying to make the top section of this work lighter than the bottom, but still have shadows near the top.  I am  not happy with the solid unit on the bottom right- but I have enough to begin work.  I want to bring in more of the rusty coloring into this work.

FoundationsXIIFoundations XI  I pinned up this new top this morning.  I have been experimenting with long stitches in yarn on nylon netting.  I was trying to create another texture that I could use in my work.  The  four pieces are  on the surface and may  or  may not stay as I go along.  This is a pure experiment, but then not knowing how something will work out never stopped me before.  I will keep you posted.

Scrap Happy  I am workingScrap-Happy on the scarp box and I decided to start a quilt using what I have.    This is a good thing too as this morning I had a call from our local public TV station and they want a quilt for their auction.    This shot shows the  red and earth toned  centered blocks as they look when they are assembeled.

Daily 's Daily’s    I am reaching the  end of this style of  block.  There are only three  left that have the half red circle and two lines.   So next week  there will be a new layout.

Keep Creating

Carol

July 11, 2013 Summer Days

Hello,

I feel we have reached the slow days of summer when Mother Nature really does her magic.  I have noticed on my walks changes especially in the trees.  Hickories, pines and oaks all have immature versions of the seeds to come in fall.  Because of all of the rain we have experienced here, I think the apples will be really big this year because the green ones on the trees now are already bigger then gulf balls.  Nature provides me with a visual feast each day.   Sorting

I am getting ready to attend the  Quilting By the Lake conference.  I so look forward to seeing my friends and to getting stimulated by lots of new ideas and thoughts about the art of quilting.  In preparation for that work  I had to do a bit of sorting.  One thing lead to another and I ended up pulling all the fabric out of the closet and refolding and stacking it.  This shot shows the job as it neared completion.   As you can see  I have lots of fabric. This activity not only cleaned up the shelves, and sorted out the material that I need for my projects, but it also made me realize I do not need to purchase anything new.   I hope I can stay to that resolution over the next two weeks while I am there and tempted by the fabrics of the venders.  I am doing two weeks of Independent study this year and I plan to keep working on the Rocks and Canyon series.   I will allow my self to find other ideas as well.   Please be aware that there will not be any posts for the two weeks  of QBL.  Then we plan on a little vacation so this will be the last post until Aug 8.

Anastasi Ruins 18" X 24"  $ 110.00
Anastazi Ruins
18″ X 24″
$ 110.00

Progress Report: Anastazi Ruins
  This work is complete now.    I have really enjoyed putting the silk paper into this work.  It makes the feel of the flow of the rocks really work for me.Anastasi Ruins 3    I liked doing the free motion work to add texture to the surface too.  The other thing I tried here and on the Sunny Crannies quilt was adding torn strips of satin to the  surface. The strips were slender so they folded in on them selves and they flipped over that also added to the textural changes that were created. BJ11Ruins1 - Copy

 Anastasi Ruins - Closeup 3I ended up not using the painted unit I posted last week on the ruins.  It was just too much. But I did add nylon net to the top of the cave area to help with the darkness.

 

 

Sunny Crannies  22.5" X 31"  $ 175.00
Sunny Crannies
22.5″ X 31″
$ 175.00

Sunny Crannies

This quilt is a part of the Rock Face series.  I really seem to be fascinated by the surfaces of road cuts and cliffs.  This one came from on of the photos that I took in Idaho a few weeks ago.   Here I went back to the free cut method to put the work together.Sunny  rannies cl3 Rocks do not break in continual strait lines most of the time so the free cut is the only way to get the correct feel.

 

This shot shows that  I also turned the brown commercial fabric over and use the “back” side to get another tone to the surface.

 

Sunny Crannies Cl1  I  used some of the fabric that Marty and I discharged in this quilt along with some slender torn gray jean fabric as well.  I really like this plus the satin surfaces on the work.   Finally I used more of the silk paper here too.  This piece of silk  paper has some glitter and gold added to the silk as well as the color.  I look forward to teaching this technique with the Quilt Exploration Group in September.

 

 

 

 

sunny cranny cl2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROUNDS

 

Rounds  

This project is moving along nicely  for me.  It is changing under my finger tips however, but one needs to be open to that as it happens.     All the circles are stitch down now and it has been washed so there is fraying of the shapes.  I plan to slice the top and invert one or more to the slices before I reassemble it.   I also want to add so yarn appliqued to the surface to add more texture.  I will then have to see what the quilt tells me to do.

 

Thoth fullEric’s Thoth 

Thoth is the Egyption god of writing.  I intended to complete this quilt for my husbands birthday.  That happens to be today so I will not make it.   But I am sure he will accept it later.  He is an English teacher and worked on his collage publication called ” Thoth” so this seems like a good idea to me.  I made the stencils- Thoth, the Eye or Horis and the Eagle  mouths ago, but never put them together until now.  Thoth3

The scarab stencil  is even older.  I added the scarab after the whole top was assembled as I discovered that the area needed an addition.

 

Thoth -wordsI enjoyed adding the  Hiroglyphs to this project too although I did them before I assembled the top.  I have had this set of stamps sense I taught school and I used them with the kids.  Here I spelled out ” Eric the Teacher” using the Heiroglyph guild book.

 

Green Nebula  Green Nebula

I keep working on the beading work on this quilt.  I am just about ready to do the  quilting now.  About three more evening of watching TV should to the trick to finish the beading step.  Then I will begin the hand quilting.

 

 

 

Blooming BacteriaBlooming Bactorial-Growth - Copy

Here again I made my background using the free hand cut method.  I did the cut and flip thing on this background too.  The  red circles are just pinned to the surface now .  When I get the placement exactly were I want it I will satin stitch them down and begin hand work.  I imagine it will be a while before this work reappears again,  as the work I do at QBL will probably capture my attention for a while.   I wanted to have this work  started   because I have made all the “add ons” and I do not want to forget the direction while I am away.

 

I will look forward to posting  again  Aug 8.

Keep Creating

Carol