All posts by admin

Broken Blocks, Daily Practice, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Scrap Happy Quilts

Snow

  Hello,

We are deep in snow here in upstate New York.     It just keeps falling form the gray sky.   The pine tree shown here was just a little six inch twig when  I planted it 25 years ago.   Now I wish it was not so close to the others as I  fear it will become distorted as it grows taller.    Not a lot I can do about that now, except enjoy its  growing beauty.

Snow kept Sharon and I home on the first of Dec, but when we  finally went to Old Forge to get our quilts on Monday, it was glorious.  The sky was an amazing blue and the snow covered landscape was beautiful.    The whether caused the cancelation of two other events for me this week, but I did make it to the Christmas Concert that my Daughter  was in on Tue.   ( she is the smiling one in the back)    My packages are wrapped and I am doing correspondence  now.   It is the season of renewing connections for me.

  Progress Report: Polk Berries    This is the first quilt using  Broken Blocks  as the background for the work.   I have appliqued down all the berries now.  They area made from old ribbon that my friend Marilyn gave me last spring.

 

 

 

Double Quilt   I finished assembling this side of the  double quilt.  It is quilted to the batting.   Yesterday I pin basted the broken block top to the other side.  Now I will quilt it through all the layers .   Not sure what will happen as is always true of experiments.   I will report next week .

 

Scarp Happy  This work is all assembled now and the boarders are on.  I have done the machine step as far as binding is concerned.   Hopefully I will begin the hand work there this week too.

 

 

 

Tree Project- 2 Birch Tree  I thought I was done with this block, but in looking at it this morning, I am not so sure.   I think I will let it be for the time being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tree Project -3 Dead Tree

This  is the newest tree project.   I am slowly working on the accompanying pine threes here.

 

Flotsam and Jetsam   I think I am nearing the end of add on’s for  this project.   I will spend time looking this week and then make my decision.

 

 

 

 

 Lap 26/25   I am at the lay out of the parts stage of this work.  It will be a bright one.

 

I hope everyone is enjoying the  holidays.

 

Carol

 

Broken Blocks, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Plants, Scrap Happy Quilts, Trees

December Full Moon

Hello,

Tonight is a the full moon and it is what is called a Cold Moon.   It is also the last full moon of this year.  The next full moon is in the first week in January.   I have always been fascinated by the moon and check the sky almost every night.

I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday.   I went to Joyce’s talk at the Schweinfurth   last week.  She did a good job showing her diverse approach to the fiber world.

 

This is a shot of her many baskets.

Winter is in full swing here in central NY and due to a lot  snow storm,  we put off my trip with Sharon to Old Forge to pick up our work.   We will try again on Monday.

 

Progress Report:   Crystal Blocks  This quilt is 38.5 X 38.5.  I started this at the Sisterhood Retreat in Oct.  After a false start and a rework of the block design this is the finished piece.

 

 

I am thinking I may do the block a second time with different emphasis.

 

 

 

Double Quilt    I have now finished the second side of this piece.  It in based to the batting and I am now ready to move on to the next step.

 

 

 

 

 

New Lap  A friend gave me a bag full of her old cotton shirts and I have decided to use it as the jump off for my next lap quilt.

 

 

 

Tree Serries- Block 1   I completed this first block and I have decided it takes more than a week to do the job.   These blocks are bigger so  a years worth of projects will probably do the trick.

 

 

Tree Serries-  Birch Tree    This is the second square for this project. I want to add some interest on the ground and it will be complete.

 

 

 

Black Capped Chickadees   I have started adding berries to this work.  Stitch circles is slow for me.

 

 

Broken Block- Polk Berries  This is what I want to build on top of the second Broken Block series.  I started this one at the Fall retreat at the Schweinfurth.

 

 

 

 

Scarp Happy  All the rows are added to the quilt now and I am ready to begin the boarders.   It is all made from left over blocks so it it a bit random.

 

It is a  busy time of year, but I hope to get into the studio a bit every day or so.

Enjoy the season.

Carol

Birds, Biweekly tree challenge, Black Capped Chickadees, Broken Blocks, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Thread Painting, Trees

Holidays Beginning

Hello,

Here it is a week before Thanksgiving already.   I will not be posting next week due to the time I will be spending with my family.  I hope you to enjoy the holiday.

All the trees but the Oaks have shed their leaves in our area.  That has sure opened up how far one can see.     Across the park and into deep ravines the dark fingers of trees reach out, but one can see beyond them .   Leaves still run down the street in front of us as we walk and the squirrels  scold form their branches, but it remains a  beautiful time of year, epically if the sun is out.

The week end was spent at the Schweinfurth’s Fall Retreat.  It was a fun time with lots of old friends.     Emily and Susan discovered that they were both wearing variations on black and brown sweaters first thing on Friday Morning.

 

 

 

 

Emily worked on this  colorful  project  and  nearly completed   the  top.

 

 

 

 

Susan did some great color play with her blocks too.

 

 

 

 

Sharon was a whorl wind and  did three  projects.    This is just a start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria worked on several projects too.   I really like this little dress.

 

 

 

 

 

Marty really played with color with these wonderful strips of silk.   She assured me this is not the final layout

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanette worked on a bed quilt wedding gift.    She got is half done.    It’s a beauty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deb was busy making fabric bags for Christmas gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy put together a photo transfer image that she had taken.    Six panels here.   She was not sure how she would quilt it.   I  think that is a big challenge.

 

 

Donna did hand quilting on this beautiful  old   long cabin  project.

 

 

 

Joyce worked on three different things.  This was the last.  I can hardly wait to see what she does with this one.

 

 

Ann did a lot of handwork and was thinking about a second jellyfish quilt like this little work.

 

 

 

We decided on the Sisterhood  Challenge too.   There are three parts.

1.some of the fabric Susan selected and gave us at the retreat has to be a part of it.

2.  some glitz needs to be a part of the work

3. Some handwork needs to be included.

This work from the  QAQ  show fits two of the rules for  this challenge, so there ott to be lots of unique stuff in the future.

 

Victoria is doing a paper for Social Art on James Castle on Tue.   I am on the committee to do table decorations for that event.   Here is my start on my  mimic of one of his works.      Only two more to go.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Lap 24/25    I am working on the binding of this piece now I am sure it will be finished soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 25/25   I used a lot of my altered fabrics in this top for the next lap quilt.  It is ready for pin basting.

 

   

 

 

 

Crystals   I am now quilting this pieces.  It is slow going as I am trying to do a different type of pattern in each section of the block.

 

 

 

Tree Series # 1   I didn’t put in as much time on this project as I intended this week.   All the distant trees are appliqued and I am working on the big close up one.   Then it will be time for branches and trunks.

 

 

 

 

Flotsam and Jetsam  I am slowly working around the outside of this work.   It is filling in nicely all be it slowly.

 

 

 

Polk Weed      I made a base using my broken block style for the background for this quilt.  I have faced and turned the berries( the purple half circle at the top is one).   I ordered some beautiful fuchsia  silk from Linda Salitrinski  for the steams.  It came today, so I can move forward.

 

 

Black Capped Chickadees   I did the thread painting of the birds at the retreat.   Then yesterday I washed them out and built the background.    I am still moving the birds around and have just about decided the third one is not necessary    I plan to add more berries to the limbs .

  Handwork pillow   I started this work in Florida before the pandemic.   It has been my pick up : only when every thing else is done for a long time.   Now I only need to stuff it.

 

Have a pleasant Thanksgiving.

Carol

Applique, Experiments, Finger Lakes Fiber Artists, Hand work, Lap Quilts

Moving Along

Hello,

Last Thru evening I looked out to see the Bever Moon as it was rising.      The moon was actually full the night before, but I found it still stunning.   Many folks saw the northern lights this week, but sense I live in the city that was not my experience.     I hope some of my readers did see it.                   The days seem to be rushing forward and the holidays will be surrounding us soon.    I had a FLFA meeting on Sat this week.  It was really fun with lots of great ideas moving folks along.

 

Susan is still exploring the stitching of fabric  and paper work   that she started at the workshop that attended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce showed off some more of her quilted works.

 

 

 

 

 

Kafka has been doing little quilts based on drawings by her grandchildren.   What a great way to save  memories.

 

 

 

Sharon is working away on this bleach altered piece.  That  pinkie/orange in the center is made with   French knots.

 

 

 

 

Jean G  has built two quilts that she plans to merry into one work in an accordion style.   ( note the little experiment at the top)   I am looking forward to see how this work out for her.

 

 

The only other thing I did this week was walnut stain some different types of fabric.     I really like how the dye is so much of a surprise as far as color and where it ends up on the surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Crystal Blocks   I added an extra row of 2.5 ” units around the out side edge of this work and then felt it was complete.  It is pin based and I did stitch in the ditch around the blocks, but I am not suer how I want to do the rest of the quilting so I m letting it rest.

 

Lap 24/25  This work is pin basted and I  have started to quilt.  It sure looks like the colors of fall are effecting my choices now.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap- 25/25    the fall color theme   is still working here.   I am enjoying using some of the fabrics that I have dyed now.

 

 

 

 

Flotsam and Jetson    This work is going forward.  I am am surprised by how much green and blue materials I have collected.   It is fun to use them together for me.

 

 

 

 

 

Handwork   I am moving slowly forward on this piece too.  It is very calming  work.

 

 

 

 

 New Self Challenge- Trees  I have not had a weekly challenge in a long time so I though about what I could do.  I decided that I would try to make eight inch square blocks and make a little landscape featuring trees  every week for a while.   Only time will tell if I can keep this idea going.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

Experiments, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Hand work, Lap Quilts, Nine Play

Changes

Hello,

This is one of the last trees in our area that still has leaves.   They are a glorious red  and  almost look like they are burning.    It is amazing how quickly the trees have shed their crowns of leaves.     Again we see their strong dark  bones and walk across their  carpets of gold.   I love this time of year.

I had very little quilt action this week.    My only event was a  FAD lunch.  But the other half of my life was full with plays and family events.   I did make a little progress however.

 Progress Report: Lap 23/25   I finished this lap quilt this week.     The center section is  hand painted by my dear friend and fellow art teacher Barbara Veral.   She died a year ago.

 

 

I enjoyed   tracing  her drawn lines with my machine.     I miss her a great deal and I am glad to have her work in my life.

 

 

 

Lap 24/25  I started my next lap quilt yesterday.   There is always a need at this time of year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cells  This project got going at  the Sisterhood  Retreat a few week ago.   I was playing with zig-zag lines and  overlap a bit here.

 

 

Transparency and movement were also a part of my thoughts.  I also played a bit with fancy stitches .

 

 

 

 

 

Crystal Blocks   I am moving forward on this project.  The original nine blocks are assembled and I made a row as a boarder yesterday.  I think that really helps frame the project.

 

 

 

On the Sands ( formerly Shore Lines)   This highly textured work is moving forward.

 

 

 

 

Handwork   this piece came to the top of the pile  and I am putting in time on it now.    I started it at Susan’s when I went to stay with her before the pandemic.    Some things just get buried.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

Lap Quilts, Paper Quilts, SAQA, Shows

Busy Week

Hello,

This week was a really busy one.  I started out by going with Liz to Marcia’s for our  monthly  get together last Friday.    It proved to be a very active and full day.

 

 

 

 

Joyce started  us out by showing us her new toilet paper roll noted books from the workshop that she took.   They are fun works.

 

 

 

 

Nancy had talked about making a paper quilt last month and I recalled having taken a workshop on that over twenty years ago so I dug out some example’s of our procerus.

 

 

 

 

Nancy ‘ s  work was much more concise approach.   Like the colors she chose too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy  was also working on a quilt for her daughter done with birds made with pieces from the Perilla Kibbe collection.

 

 

 

There was also a bit of dress up in the day, and  Victoria and Joyce had a good time.

 

 

 

Victoria  did  work away on her project for her niece.   She is nearly ready to sew things down now.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan did hand work  on this pieces she had started a while back.  She is quilting in now.

 

 

 

 

The landscape project project # 2 was due  and   Liz had a painted piece to show.

 

 

Deb worked on hers  while she was there. Her works are all based on the stream behind her home.

 

 

 

 

 

I showed my piece.

 

 

 

 Then Quilt= Art = Quilts opened on Saturday.     So many wonderful works I am glad I will get several times to visit .     I was epically taken by this quilt by  Sheere Rasmussen.     It is so rich .

 

 

 

 

This work by  my friend Lourie Paquin was special to me because at the Fall  Retreat last year, Liz challenged her to use only things in her scrape  bag.  This is the result.

 

 

Her second entry : Where tree Bong-tree Grows , won a prize.

 

 

 

 

 

I went to the banquet and  Lecture in the evening and sat across form  Janice Chiaffredo , who created this wonderful piece.

 

This, to my surprise, is a paper quilt by Wen Redmon, titled The  Sacred Gift.  Sort of funny how paper quilts have resurfaces in so many places of late.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was impressed by this whole cloth work by Brent Mc Gee.  It is called Apollo and Python.    He talked about it at the Artist talk on Sunday afternoon.

It is a  powerful show and Encourage everyone to see it.

My last adventure for this week was a trip to Old Forge to see the Quilts Unlimited show at The View.    This work has so much detail.  I was not good a taking notes at this event.    But this work did win fist prize.

 

 

 

Sharon S had two works in this show.   I enjoyed this  little Poppy work.

 

 

 

 

Jean G’s Leporid  was a part of this show.   I still really enjoy the tail sticking of f the edge on this work.

 

 

 

 

 

My Victorian Burning got into this show.

 

 

The SAQA Contrast show was also up in a second gallery.

My Plastic Silverware was a part of this as   well.

 

 

 

This Supreme Circus is also a pat of this traveling show.

 

 

There was not a lot of time in the studio this week but I did make a little progress

Progress Report:  Crystal Blocks   I worked away on this project this week and all the blocks are built.  I am still playing with location, but I feel I will start to assemble it soon.

 

 

 

 

Lap 23 /25    This work got a bit of attention this week too.   I am half way through doing the pin basting at this point.

 

 

 

Shore Line   I started this piece last week with the punch needle portion.   I arranged the sew and fused portions and started the texture step.  The the buttons and beads shown here took an hour to add on.

 

 

 

 

 

Spinning out   I don’t think this title works for this any longer.  It seems to take on a life of its own under my finger tips.    I will keep working and see where it leads me.

 

It has been a full week and I am looking forward to a calmer one next week.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applique, Circle Challenge, Felt Work, Fish, Lap Quilts, SAQA

The Leaves

Hello,

Fall is in full color blast here in central New York.   The shifting light bubbles that once filled my walking path have given way to a different colored carpet of yellows, golds orange and red leaves.   They come tillering down to dance in front of me down the walkways.   And my favorite sound fills my ears-  the crunch of my feet as I shuffle through the colors.    There is a wonderful magic in fall that I truly love.

Progress Report: Hollyhocks and Hummingbirds  This work is 37.5″ w X 48″ t.     I am quite happy with how I feel when I look at this work.    I finished and added the hummingbirds this week and I made a few bees to the work as well.    I hope to enter this piece in the SAQA Pollinators challenge.

 

 

 

 

Moring Meadow  This work is  19″ w X 12 t.   I read about using your sewing machine on soda cans and so I tried that.  The centers of the tall purple flowers are that experiment.  It works Okay- but the process  does really dull the needle.     I don’t really see any special use of this technique, but I will keep it in my mind for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Lap 23-25   I came across this fabric painted cloth that my good friend Barbara V did years ago when she and I were playing in her class room while we were both teaching.   I though it would make a great center unit for a lap quilt and so I am working toward that end.

 

 

Handwork – Fish

 I felted the background a while ago.  When I cam across it again this week, I pulled it out and started this new piece.

 

 

Crystal Blocks   I started playing with this idea at the retreat a few weeks ago.   The block is based on  a high relief sculpture that I observed at the Rochester show  this summer. (below)

 

 

At the retreat I did a first draft of this block.    It was awful .    So I reworked the pattern.  This new rendition is  square and lays flat  so I am having fun playing with it now.

 

 

 

Spinning Out   I have started to attach the circles to the surface of this third work I started at the retreat.    It needs more build up I think.

 

New: shore line or tidepool     I am ready to begin and new one of these highly texturized pieces.   So I started with some punch needle parts this  week.

 

 

I got a little silly one day and stated making little witches.  the heads are paper clay with a stick in the center for the body to be built on.      I used pipe cleaners for the arms and legs .  They sure made mounting the little gals on brooms easy.

 

 

The brooms are made with a brown trim wrapped around a squire.       I had a good time making dolls again.

 

Keep your eyes open and Enjoy the changing season.

Happy Halloween

Carol

 

 

 

Felt Work, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Re Work, Stretched Works

Mid October

Hello,

The world is spinning quickly and we are past the middle of October already.   The weather continue to cool as the day  grow steadily shorter.   We have had some beautiful sun sets   and the leaves continue to give one blasts of color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My only adventure this week was a day of playing with roving and  felting with Cher.   We enjoyed the process.

Progress Report:  Spinning Out   This little bit of handwork got a lot of attention this week.   I have been using it as a fill in for the times when watching TV  while  I had no other pressing work to do.  Stretched it over so foam core this week as I felt it was complete.

 

 

Rework of Autumn Tide Pool #3.  I learned that this pieces was too heavy to hang from a sleeve in the normal way when I put it in  my solo show in June.  I am finally getting it stretched and stitch to foam core now.  Liz gave me a batch of her old foam core so that has been a push to do the work.   I need to stitch through the buttons and foam core to make it squire.    I am about one forth of the way along on that step now.

Hollyhocks and Hummingbirds  It took several attempts to get wings that I liked for my birds on this project.  I have seven stitched to the base now.  I can see the completion of this project is coming soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Circulating Rings   I started this project at the retreat.  I am finally happy with the color and placement of the rings and I started stitching it down yesterday.

 

 

 

Morning Meadow I am working away on this piece and it too is nearly complete.     I think it needs to have a fabric frame and then it will be done.

 

Lap 22/25   This quilt will be finished this week as I only need to  do the hand step of the binding.   I took seven finished lap quilts to a nursing home this week.   This one is the finish  of a top by Noel.

Life is full and busy.

Keep Creating

Carol

Applique, Circle Challenge, Hand work, Pixies Group, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors

Home from Sisterhood Retreat

Hello,

I arrived home from the 2025 Sisterhood of the Scissors Retreat on Kuka  Lake yesterday.  We left on Friday last week so and  I  had a good time.   Liz got sick on day two and Victoria was not at the top of her game either.

It was a glorious time to be there as the color was great.   I walked every day and that added to my pleasure.

 

Everyone  sharded great little gifts and I came home with a horde of new items.    They are a generous and thoughtful group of gals.   The spotted fabric at the bottom is the challenge fabric for 2026.   Susan selected it for us.

 

 

 

 

This years challenge produced a wide variety of solutions.        Deb saw a lamp in the fabric and produced this bed room.  She also used it in the head board.

 

 

 

 

 

Joyce saw a volcano in the fabric.      She got to use  a little her new coloring technique as well as the insert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy worked on this nice big project with lots of hand work on it .

 

 

 

This handsome small work was by Victoria.

 

 

 

 

 

Ann had a nice solution as well.

 

 

 

This is my work.

 

 

 

Everyone had projects that they worked on during the week as well as some show and tell.

Joyces spent some time beading on this beautiful batik piece.

 

 

 

 

She also had a good time working with her Gelli plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ann worked on this piece that is a map of Kuka lake.   She stitched down all the buildings and is now ready to begin adding grape leaves to represent the vineyards around the lake.

 

 

Ann had some wonderful little quilts for show and tell.   She also showed off some of her beautiful crochet work.

 

 

 

 

 

Susan was jut home from another retreat doing three D work using paper and cardboard that she hand stitched together.

 

 

She showed off and worked on this flat  piece too.

 

 

Kathy worked on this Quilt of Valor.  It is ready for layering and quilting now.

 

 

 

We took a  field trip on Sat to the Windmill and shopped and ate lunch.

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful. day and we enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

 

We ate a lot of ice cream, sat on the big poaches and talked.   The whole event went very quickly with  a lot of work and relaxation for us healthy folks.

 

Progress Report:   Hummingbirds    I took lots of projects to the retreat.    I did draw and outline the humming birds for my Hollyhock quilt.  But I was not sure how I wanted to do the wings and so this is all I got done.

 

 

 

 

Round It Out   I feel like I made a good start on this new project.  The base is built and I have some of the circles pinned in place.    It is really a work in progress.

 

 

Cut It Up     I had cut up all the squared before I left and I sent a day squaring them up and putting them together  at the retreat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrap Happy The box of leftover squares from old scarp happy quilts was overflowing so I knew there were enough for a new top.  This one is in rows with no pattern .

 

 

  Handwork- Summer Meadows   I took this along as my evening handwork  and I only want to add little white butterflies to it and it will be ready for finishing.

Crystal Squares    I took this photo of a high relief sculpture at the show that the group visited in Rochester earlier this year.    I though it would be a good basis for a quilt square.

So at the retreat I drew it up and added quarter inch seams.  Using those templates,  I built one square.    I need to do some modifications on it, before it will work as a square .  But I think it is worth the effort.

 

 

Book Page   I needed to do something completely different while I was at the Zoom meeting of the Pixie group yesterday afternoon, so I pulled out this old project and worked on it.    One more flower to build  now.

 

It has been a good week and I  as soon as I get stuff put away I will be ready to tackle the projects that I am in the middle of.

Enjoy the fall and keep creating

Carol

 

 

Applique, Experiments, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Hand work, Lap Quilts

Seasonal Changes

Hello,

We are starting to really feel fall here.  Eric  and I went for a walk around Green Lake this week and enjoyed it a great deal.  We also sat out  doors and read one afternoon while the wind blew down lots of leaves and some walnuts too.   There will not be many more days like these, so we are enjoying them.

I had a full week with a FAB meeting and the Social Arts Tea. The tea was to celebrate this organization that has been in existence for 150 years.      We dressed up and wore hats  as well as having a display of antique clothing.   I had a lot of my aunt and grandmother Ruth’s dresses to share.

 

 

 

 

I showed off my  mothers wedding dress that was part of a quilt I did several years ago.    Mom has a beautiful voice and she was always singing.  I embroider the chois of songs about weddings and marriage around the dress.    The tea included a great speaker, tea cakes and tea.  It was a fine way to kick off our new year.

 

 

 

 

Progress Report: Lap 21-25  As the colors show I am already inferenced by the cooler season.

 

 

Autumn Tide  Pool    I picked this finished work from the framers this week.    She dose a great job of making things look professional.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diddie Do   This work is done now.  I have stretch it and tacked it to a foam core board.   I have not decided if I want to frame it or not.

 

 

 

 

Holly Hocks   I am done with all the hollyhock stocks and leaves now.   I will start to design the humming birds this week.

 

 

 

 

 

New Handwork   I was playing with my sewing machine and  running it without tread on a soda can to cut out circles for centers for flowers this time.   Now I will start to hand stitch them down .   It was a fun bit of play.

Friday begins the Sisterhoods of the Scissors retreat.    I have put a lot of time into thinking about what I want to do for the five days  and I have a very full bag of fabrics.     I hope to accomplish a lot.

Keep Creating

Carol