Hello followers- I need to tell you that I have messed up the postings and can not post photos at the moment. My computer gurue is coming on Friday……..
Thanks
Carol
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Moving forward
Hello,
I have had a busy week. I went to the Schweinfurth n Saturday to the Finger Lakes Fiber Artist meeting and got to view the Modern Quilt show as a bonus. This study in white black and orange is apart of that show.
The Meeting was exciting with lots of great talk and fun work.
Lori shared her examples for a class she is developing and got feedback on how to make it even stronger. 
Sharon shared her newest work (red) and one of her pieces from her graduate show. 
I really like the additional stitch embellishment that Maureen is adding to her piece.
Pat showed off one of her little trip tics. All built from one piece of fabric. That fabric is some of her hand dyed.
Regina showed her work with Hexagons. We are a group with lots of interests and going in lots of different directions. That diversity makes us all more open to new ideas and ways of pushing forward.
Progress Report: How and Why? This work is 33”w X 43” l. As the title implies there are two words here. It also contains lots of fabric that I have altered. 
I am enjoying the vertical quilting process.
Why? This quilt is 30” w X 38” l. I found the separation of children( kidnapping) from their parents so upsetting that I had to build a work about my feelings. 
That is part of the reason I use such a horrifying red for the text as well.
Beth’s Baby Quilt 
This quilt is 42” w X 49” l. I had a good time creating this quilt and I hope the third child in this family feels as wrapped in joy as the first two. 
I used many different fabrics to allow this work to have different textures as a part of it. 
Yes 
This is the paper pattern for the use of the word “yes”. In this form it is still difficult to “read” the word and that in my intent. I am more interested in a developing a strong design than readability.
New work -Summer Heat It was very hot last week when I was doing most of the work on this piece – that is the main reason for the title. The contrast between the orange and blue helps convey that feeling.
New- Collection 4
I start these works with lose blocks of fabric as the base for more materials.
Sky I am just building this piece and not as all sure where I am going with it.
Label Cards: Spirit
The word Spirit has many meanings. I am thinking of folks from the past here and reflecting on how those ghosts influence us today.
Begin by Choosing The respect that John Smith chose to show Pocahontas at the beginning of their relationship moved forward to effect both of their lives. Choice is power!
Gratitude
We all need to reflect on all that we have and express our gratitude for all of it. Living in this country is a wonder!
I will be off at Quilting By the Lake for the next two weeks so there will not be any posts until Aug 2. 
This is a stack of the stuff I have packed so far……
Enjoy the season.
Carol
Summer Days
Hello,
The yucca is blooming and the smell fills the air.
My big event for this week was to help hang the Associated Artist show at the Beaver Lake Nature center on Sunday. 
It was fun and I enjoyed helping and talking with my fellow artists. This show will be up until the end of Aug.
It was so hot on Wed that Liz and I did not dye. I made screens with house paint and interfacing instead.
The light gray areas will allow the dye to pass through and print on the fabric below.
The heat has kept me in the studio and I have accomplished a lot.
Progress Report: Linda’s Luck This work is 36” w X 41”l. It has been created with the use of the cut aways from several other text pieces. 
I used the vertical parallel stitching to do the quilting job.
Summer Heat This in the start of one of my new pieces. The center block is a scrap of painted silk and the started the whole thing.
Beth’s Baby Quilt 
This quilt is ready for the detail work now. I have not done a baby quilt in about three years and it was a bit more difficult to get back into this process then I expected.
How and Why The addition of the word why really helped this quilt work for me. I am doing the quilting step now. I am sure it will be finished by next Thursday.
Why I had to create a quilt using Why and this is it. I like the strong contrast between the text and the background.
Sky 
I painted this piece of fabric to create the base for my sky from the class I am following.
New work- Collections 3 This is step one in the collections works. I just lay out a few squares of fabric to build on top of.
Daily Project 
I finished the orange coring. Then I moved onto the rickrack. It is going very slowly as I am being so elaborate with the stitches I am using to tack it down are complex.
Label Card: Ideas
I think that a good idea is like the cracks in mud, because it can lead and connect to so many other things. One just needs to be open to that idea.
Enjoy the summer and keep creating.
Carol
Busy Season
Hello,
I am enjoying the flowers of summer now. I Day Lilies bring a smile to my face , even though they do not last long. They are so cheerful!
I have enjoyed a full week. Last Friday I went up to Old Forge to the View to the National Pastel Show with my friend Barbara. She had five works in this judged show and won the Prize for Best Use of Color with this work. She also sold one of the other works to a fellow artist. I am so very proud of her. We stayed over night and took our time driving home and stopped at the Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton. 
It was full of wonderful art and the gallery owner asked Barbara to show there. Barb left one of her works with the gallery and it is in the front window. She is doing well.
Tues the FAB group meant and we had a good time. Sharon shared her newest work. She is teaching a workshop on how to create this type of work at Calico Gals. It is full and she will teach it again in the fall as there is a waiting list.
Then on Wednesday I went to Liz’s and we did a little dyeing.
This year I plan to do two layers of color on all the works I create with dye. So these are only half done.
Progress Report: Dad’s Barn This quilt is 25” X 17”. The background is one of Ethel’s starts that was in the bottom of one of my boxes and I loved the two colors together.
I did the trees and bird as free motion thread painting. This barn was on dad’s last farm and falling down. 
I enjoy doing free motion birds and though this swallow would go well with the barn. I do remember a few flying around there when I visited.
Ravens
I am glad I added to the quilting on this piece. It hangs much better and is flatter too.
How I keep working with the text idea and in this case the word is HOW. This is Ok but I am not happy with where it is at this time. I need to do a lot of thinking and planning here.
Baby Quilt 
I am working away on this project. The week as been so busy that there is not a lot of progress. This is the background and now I can start to add the animals to the surface.
Daily Progress This project just moves along slowly. All the orange cording is attached now and I will move on.
Collage
This is OZ inspired of course. I am having fun.
Label Card 
Tribes is about respecting Mother Nature and all she represents. Native American’s close ties to the land and made for a healthy attitude toward our earth and it’s resources. We need to keep this in mind as we pursue our lives.
Enjoy the wonders of summer.
Keep Creating
Carol
Summer Solstice
Hello,
We have reached the longest light day of the year. I enjoy setting out of doors in the evening at this time of year to witness the fading light. I will continue to pursue this even though I do really notice the time differences for quite a while. I just like how the color and crisp edges of the world fade as the light diminishes.
I also went to the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute with a couple of friends this week. 
The show we went to see was the Kimono show of Itichiku Kubota’s work. It was a beautiful presentation of the rich Komona’s in five rooms. Many works were presented as a continuous flow of a scean or idea.
The Komona’s were all hand dye painted with great detail and many subtle color changes.
One room was full of works that move through the seasons in one continuous flow of landscape. I loved the single hair bush painted trees on one of the Kominas. Those trees were only about two inches tall. Some of the works took over a year to complete. He did lots of shibori in his work too.
There was a s room that had Mt Fuji as its theme and all the works related to that idea. The skies on some of those fascinated me.
One room was a creation story and it was so long that I could not capture it all it one shot. The color was amazing and there was a wealth of texture and pattern in the works.
I just could not look enough.
I did go to Liz’s this week and we mixed new dye to begin our summer dyeing. It has been too cold to begin before this point.
Progress Report: Persuasion
This work is 34.75” w X 74.5” l. It is another one of the Text series. I also did a wiggle cut background for this work.
I pebble quilted the words and reflective quilted the background.
I am done with the quilting on this work now and only need to do the facings. I like how flat it is.
Dad’s Barn I am doing the hand work on this piece now. I have added a bit of shadow to the barn. I also hand stitched in some more weeds to make it feel unified.
Ravens 
In doing some re evaluating I thought this work needed some additional quilting. So I am stitching in all the blocks and doing reflective quilting in the raven squares.
Collections 1 This work got a bit of a rework too. I am adding a ribbon edge to both of the collections pieces. It will make them look more finished I think.
Daily Practice IV I continue to add to this work with hand applique of ribbons and such.
Baby Quilt 
A friends daughter just had a child and I have done a sketch for the baby quilt. The fabric is pulled now to get it together.
New Work I am ready to begin a next Text piece and I am auditioning fabric there. This picture makes be realize there is not enough contrast at this point.
Label Cards: Under the Sun 
We live on the blue marble and as it is solstice it is a good time to celebrate the sun and our universe.
Card 2 This work is pure play. 
Sometimes one does’t need a reason to play.
Keep Creating
Carol
June Day trip
Hello,
I love to do little short day trips in the summer. This last week end I went with my daughter to Sonnenburg Gardens and to the Out Door Expo. We had a good time an enjoyed the our excursion.
There was a little animal show at the Expo and this tortious was one of the animals there. His textures are wonderful to my eye. One needs to follow ones interests as you never know where they may lead.
Progress Report: Ravens I am redoing this piece with reflective quilting now. The process is slow but the end results make for a better work.
Linda’s Luck 
Working away on line quilting on this piece. The Progress is time consuming.
Dad’s Barn Being unsure of just what I want to do with this piece I am doing a lot of studying at this point.
Persuasion 
I am to the reflective step in quilting on this piece.
Daily Practice I am just starting this new work. I am stitching down little brass flowers that my friend Carol gave to me as my first step.
Collage 
I am doing collage again and this is my work for this week. I could not resist playing with these strong graphic patterns.
Cards: Trinket
It seems like my drawers fill with little trinkets of so many items from various sources. One dose like to keep these tiny memory things.
Dreams Everyone is unique and all our dreams are too. One has got to love the diversity!
Keep Creating
Carol
One last picture of one of the orkids from the gardens.
Taking stock
Hello,
We are beginning to enjoy the wonders of summer. These poppies are in Susan’s garden and look wonderful. This was the first full week of June and I had three meetings. QuEG’s meant on Tuesday morning. It was a small group but folks had lots to share.
Linda C is working on a baby quilt for her niece. Elephants are the nursery theme. 
Liz is working on her transparency piece and it is looking good. 
Sue Ellen is playing with her collection on non cotton fabrics. 
And there is a row by row project in the works too.
I went from the meeting to Moravia and spent a wonderful afternoon working with Susan. We then went off to the Diva meeting where more things were cooking. 
Donna has a new batch of mirrors that she has completed. She sure knows how to use Fimo effectively. 
Lori is creating portraits with her needle now. 
Noel is doing portraits too- but with quilt a different bent. Her fabric faces are stretch and very whimsical.
Yesterday I went off to the FAB meeting. Judy and Patti are knitting like crazy and Sharon has finished her Relative quilt now.
Because of all these meetings I spent a lot of time in the car alone. This plus sorting through work looking for a specific piece brought up some issues. Susan wisely said of reworking pieces one is “playing with your younger self.” What a grand way to look at the process of redoing works that do not quite make the grade. Time away from work allows one to look with new eyes at the pieces and I often see things I wish I had done differently. I can spot the problems in some cases too. In my sorting and musing I have decided I will return to some works in the hope of making them stronger.
Progress Report: Perception Daily This work is 30” w X 46” l. It is a part of the text series . One of the challenges that Liz and I made for our selves this year was to use some of the fabric that we hand dyed. All the material except the dark turquoise fabric in the background is something that I altered. 
I did reflective quilting around all the words after I had raw edge appliqued down the words. 
Daily Practice I I finally stretched all the finished Daily Practice work this week. This piece is 18″ w X 24″ l. 
The base of this one is a piece of fabric that was a wipe up cloth at one of my print sessions last summer. The lace is from grandmothers collection and I hand dyed it last summer as well.
Daily Practice II This piece is 16″ w X 18″ l. The base for this work is several trimmed tans that looked good together. 
This piece has lots of buttons on it for textural contrast.
.
Daily Practice III This work is 18″ w X 24″ l. The purple background is a commercial fabric and all the other material added on top is some I have altered. They are also scraps left over from other projects. 
I have always been fascinated by negative space and in using those negatives this way they become positive spaces. Stitches and pompoms are the textural elements of this piece. 
Daily Practice IV 
The orange part base of the background isone of the shibori projects Liz and I tried last summer. The metal flowers are from Carol.
Rocky Shore I worked forward on Water – the class assignments this week. The hand painted sky and water have been stitched down and the three different types of foam have also been applied.
One foam is made from Angelina, a second is florist plastic that was painted with opalescent paint and the third was a textured plastic ribbon that I ironed. I will move on to the next element next week and finish all the elements at the end of the class.
Mulberry Memories This work has become a problem for me. I tried to put too much into the top for the size of the piece. It has become impossible for the viewer to “read”. Therefore I have decided to scarp this particular work and start again using the same ideas plus a few others and create two or perhaps a three units to represent this time and geography of my life. We lived in this location for 5 years and there are lots of memories.
Ravens
I thought that this work was finished last week and I presented it as such. But a second study this week as convinced me that it needs more quilting. The gals at QuEGs pushed this idea too. So I am taking the time to make these additions.
Persuasion I have been busy doing pebble quilting on this text piece. I am ready to start reflective quilting on it now.
Dad’s Barn I came across the orange and yellow base in one of my boxes from Ethel. I pinned it to the pin wall and it hung there for several weeks. In thumbing through a sketchbook I came across of the old barn on Dad’s Farm and though I would like to do a work about that. The two came together. I also wanted to do some more thread painting so I drew our some swallows on wash away and started them.
After the backs were done I added the chest and beaks.
I have learned that I do not need to do the legs as they are so slender that they do not hold up well after washing and they seldom are in the position I want so I add them when I put the work together. 
The birds are washed and dried and ready for mounting on the image. I need to decide how I am going to add one of them to the work now.
New Work 
I am trying to pay attention to shape and contrast with this work. It is made up of mostly the cut-away’s of several older pieces. Again my love of the negative spaces.
Label Cards Modern 
I became weary of the word Modern when I was about 10. I was helping Mom and Aunt Marci clean grandfather’s cabin. We were taking The books off the shelf sorting and dusting them. I came a pone one called “ Modern Science” and I flipped it open. It revealed a drawing of all of the parts of atom with the Neutrons, Protons and Electrons labeled. Knowing there were more I decided to always be wary of things labeled as “Modern”.
Self Knowledge One develops an understanding that they are unique entities separate from others at a young age. But the real development of self acceptance takes years and for some never occurs.
Keep Crating Friends
Carol
Post 300
Hello,
We have a house guest, our daughter’s dog Riley. He is a good husky, but requires three walks a day. That sure is eating into my work time. I am enjoying myself .
I discovered this is my 300th post. I never envisioned that I would still be writing and creating this work this far into the future when I started it. The first one was Sept. 1, 2011 and I have come a long way. That first blog only had three pictures. Now I see photos as one of the strongest parts of my posts. I was so tentative about what to write in the beginning. Now I am surprised and proud of this work. I look forward to the postings and think about what I want to cover over the week. It makes me pay more attention to my peers, what I am doing and my environment. I look forward to noting things every week. I do not plan to end any time soon as I just renewed my domain name for the next three years.
Progress Report: Collection 2- Grandmother Mc This work is 18” w X 31” l. I started out with some lace that grandmother Ester had created and built up the surface with more items that where hers and represented her.
She had button tin and I spent many hours stringing them for her. Three different ones from the collection are shown here. 
Perception 
I am done adding the text to the background with metallic threads on this work. 
Now I am doing reflective quilting around all the words.
Persuasion I am still doing pebble quilting of the words for this quilt. I seem to only be able to quilt three words in an hour. I have seven words remaining.
Rocky Shores 
I am doing a Quilt University class by Linda Schmidt. The first lesson is on water. I painted the sky and water and them I followed the instructions on how to make the rocks and foam. I am making up my own shore line. It is all pinned in place now and I will begin stitching next.
Mulberry Memories
This week I worked on the winter memories for this quilt. Ice skating, and sledding were two of the things we did lots of those years. Gene had a flexible flyer and it was a wonderful sled. We even built snow jumps for it.
Old Barn I just started this work based on a photo of the old barn on Dad’s farm. It fell down before he moved from there and the lumber was burnt in the stove in that house.
Daily Practice
I am now adding some lace flowers to the surface of this project. I hand dyed the lace last summer with Liz. This project continues my effort to use materials that I have altered with dye this year.
Card
It is hard some times to keep things balanced. I often go to excess on some things. I am trying to pay attention to this as I get older and think about the need to keep my many interests in line.
I just could not seem to stop working on collage this week. Collection, sifting, placing and creating a new image from scraps- it is a wonderful process in my eyes.
Keep Creating
Carol
Great Weather
Hello,
After several days of spring rains, we are enjoying wonderful weather. I now need to do some yard jobs. But any excuse to be out doors will due. It is so wonderful with pleasant temperatures and almost daily changes in the environment. There was only one meeting this week and it was of the FAB group. I forgot my camera so there are no new images.
Progress Report: Ravens This work is 38”w X 49” l. It really came together with ease. I made a drawing and then added a Raven’s head to the big white areas.
I enjoyed working with the limited palet.
Summer Family- Cardinals Texture is one of my main interests, and this work has a lot of them. 
This mother Cardinal has the most variation in thread colors of the three. Her position is more animated then the males.
I do seem to be in a bird phase at the moment.
Persuasion 
I was all ready to add the words on top of this work and then I realized that the value of the text was too close to the background. So I took them off and made some darker words( navy blue ) and brighter greens.
I am raw edge appliqueing them down with silver and pale blue metallic threads. There are two threads in one needle of the sewing machine.
Perception I could not bring myself to toss the pale purple words so I made a new background for them. The fuchsia and pink really high lights the words that were lost on the first work.. Then I added some of the leftover navy words too. I think that they add interest.
New Collection II 
Grandmother Mc This work is moving along. I am enjoying going through the old button collections and adding them to the surface.
Daily Practice 
This work just keeps building.
New I seem to be fascinated by the purple and apple green colors of late. This is a new combination for me and I guess I am not done exploring it.
Mulberry Memories- Carroll This work is moving slowly. 
I am adding the images I painted last week on the surface. As a child, I lived in this house five years and there are so many memories that I am having a hard time deciding what to use.
Card- Spin Spring seems bring on a dramatic change in the outside world and those changes push me in a new directions. I find that my mind is full of a wide variety of ideas.
Keep Creating
Carol
Spring flowers
Hello,
We are still here in Central New York due to the fact that Eric has been very sick with a bad cold. He is mending now. I have been walking and enjoying all the wonderful flowers that have burst into bloom this week. The May Apples look like they will bloom in the next few days. 
The red buds on the tree down the street look beautiful too. The tree leaves are filling in the sky line and soon one will feel all surrounded by them and the views will be limited again. I enjoy the changes.
Progress Report: Riotous Romp This work is 38”w X 34”l. It is built with a curvy cut background and four copies of a cursive word- New. I am glad this 
spring like work is finally finished and I am glad I re did the facings when I discovered it was now square. I do not feel so joyous about the work as I did before I had to re do it, but feel the positive feelings will return with time.
Mulberry Memories
I keep working on this project. 
This week I free motion drew the around the house and the street layout . I also did sketchbook work of the other items and scenes I want to use. It is starting to come together I think.
Collection II I am doing the add on and detail 
work on this piece now. I like how I can mix old little bits of memorabilia with old bits of lace and ribbon from my mom and grandmothers collections. A nice remembrance sort of work.
Cardinals In working on this piece I made a tree. But after I placed it on the background I discovered it was far to powerful in its self to work on this project. Even lots of stitching would not diminish it enough. So I went for simpler 
and added the tulip leaves to the surface. The leaves are made from silk paper. I will add the birds and trim next. This is one time when my little rule about only working for about and hour on a project helped me see a problem. If I just pushed forward I would be taking out the first tree now.
Two Ravens 
Several years ago I went to Canada with Marty. We visited the Native Peoples Museum in Montreal. There I purchased a beautiful hand printed towel. Due to the fact that Eric and I did not travel this week, I had more time in the studio then normal and I pulled towel( the birds) out and cut it in two. Now I am building a top.
New Word
This background has now been quilted with a stitch in the ditch technique. I will add text on top next. 
This is the cursive version of the word “WIP” . The letters are overlaid and graffiti like. I do not like what the word means and the connotations that go with it, but the shape is wonderful. I will not mention the word again as I present the work.
New Water Sky and Rocks I painted out doors yesterday and created these fabrics. I want to do a piece on the shore line. I did sky, water and rocks.
Daily Practice
I just keep putting in the stitches here. I am not happy yet as seems to have no center of interest.
Label Card On Sunday we celebrated Mother’s day. I do my cards on Sunday afternoon and I was thinking about my Mom at the time. I realized that not all women are Moms, but all women were once little girls and that is what this card celebrates.
Keep Creating
Carol