Category Archives: Machine Drawing

Continue, Insect ology, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Pock Marked

Work Space

May 28, 2015 admin

Hello,

Summer is upon us now with all its wonders. I love how fast a beautifully the flowers are opening and changing the landscape. This Poppy is from Regina’s garden were I was visiting yesterday. I enjoy her work an find her approach exciting. One of the things she is working on is printing on fabric with a linoleum block and then quilting into the image. She added the red thread to emphasize the blossoms. She has asked a friend to enlarge the image and print it on the fabric for her so there will be even more of this image in her future work.

I also spent time with Nancy this week doing some dye painting. She could not find the color she wanted for one of her works and decided to paint to get what she wants. I am proud of her.

Through this door is the studio. I think it is very important to have a place of your own to work. I have a wonderful converted garage space for my studio. I has had several lives before it became my space. I served as a bedroom for two different boarders, my daughter and young grand kids and then for Eric and myself. Now it is my refuge for creative work. It has a wonderful bay window in the front and a door out side on the east wall. A long four foot deep closet in the back with book shelves is were I store most of my fabrics, yarns and papers as well as my felting machine. I have filled the space with my stuff and it suits me well. This first shot is from the door looking toward the front of the house. My desk/ sit down work space is a U in this far corner. I enjoy using my Grandmother Ruth’s sewing table as a work space for my own machine. That is one leg of the U and the desk its self is the other two sides.

I spend most of my time working in this area of the room..By walking strait across the room from the door and looking back this shot shows the view. Here is my cutting table with a small ironing board on the top at the far end. The pin wall is also along that wall. Next to that I have a book case that is full of projects in progress as I like to keep materials all together until I have completed an idea. This view is achieved when one walks diagonally from the point of view of the second shot into corner I just described and look back. ( the end of the sewing machine is on the lower right ) Here one can see the book shelves. The have lots of quit books and reference materials as well as my tin container collection. They serve as storage for sequins, oils sticks, markers, special fabric bits and small items that I find inspirational. In the corner the plastic drawer unit is full of beads, paints, buttons, lace trims and other attachments. My guest chair, also shown, often serves as a staging area for hand work that will be done outside the studio. I feel fournate to have such a wonderful work area and I enjoy it almost daily.

Progress Report ; Modeled Surface I used lots of surface altering techniques on this work. This red purple section is from the Deconstructed Screen Printing class from the fall.

The light blue is from some dyeing I did with the QuEGs group last spring. This dark blue is from a day I spent playing with paint in my own studio. I was doing tape resist on the fabric and then running the roller over it. The left side of this images shows printing on an old table cloth and the right side is a double print of a silk screen. It was a fun challenge to use only fabrics that I had altered myself.

Insect OlogyI am still working on the free motion part of this work. I so liked the shapes of these leaves that I used them several places in the quilt to fill in the sections. I like finding inspiration from the fabric for my free motion work.

Flag-Continue I only finished one flag this week. This one is Susan’s design and her quote too. I just added the flowers. Now I only have five to finish before Tue next week so that project will get lots of my attention.

New Work True to the way I work I have pulled out a new patch of fabric and pinned it to the wall. I always like to audition fabrics before I use them.

Label Block

Two more are now completed.

Keep Creating

Carol

Consideration, Find Ecstasy, Hand Bags, Insect ology, Minion, Pock Marked, Rejoice, Uncategorized

Travel Log

May 21, 2015 admin

Hello,

I am home from a wonderful trip and I still seem to be flying along with lots of new experiences. Maine was/is beautiful as it too awakens to spring. I enjoyed the tulips in Barb’s yard and took lots of pictures. There are so many wonderful colors. We visited two artists with studios on this trip. The first was Elizabeth Busch’s place. She is working on a new commission for the state capital building in Augusta. This is a shot of the models. She is building in her wonderful weaving on bird netting.She carefully explained how she used her photos of different parts of Maine to build the landscape that she wanted for the project. She refers to them often as she works with the weaving to keep the colors close to the natural look she is building. She has a large collection of printed and painted strips of plastic to choose from when she is working. Elizabeth sometime weaves as many as four strips into one section to create the color she wants for rocks, trees, water and other natural elements. She is working on all three panels at one time so they will flow into one another as they spin from the three eye beams in the lobby. The job needs to be completed by September so she will have a busy summer.

The second Studio was that of Nanci Kohn She is a photographer and paper Mache’ artist. She too was very willing to talk about her process and work. I really love this song bird that is covered in sheet music.

We then stopped and looked at a welded sculpture of an Osprey on a bridge on our way to Portland. It was an enjoyable and stimulating trip as travel always seems to be for me.

Tuesday the FAB group meant here. Patti had nearly completed this happy little wall hanging. I like how she used buttons and beads for the eyes of the kittens.

Judy was busy working on a new sweater. She is doing hand embroidery stitched flowers on it now to add more interest. I like the soft colors she is using.

Progress Report: Paper Quilt- Consideration

I am done working on the surface of this project. I want to add a sleeve in a different manner than I have with previouse paper quilts,because it is so wide. I want to make the slat removable for this one. The papers that I started with were from a Gelli print play day last fall. I have enjoyed doing all the stitching on this one and adding textures

I added painted and melted tyveck for that texture. I used both sides so some areas have the bubble up and some have the bubble down.

Hand Bag I made a new hand bag out of some of the wonderful fabric that Regina gave me a few weeks ago. It is time to switch to a summer color so I put the old one( it was browns and blacks) away.

Place Mats When I was sorting through the material for the hand bag I pulled fabric for place mats too. These are the newly finished batch. I have stacks two more sets setting on the cutting table.

Pock Marked I am working on the free motion portion of the quilting on this project. It is going slowly as I am trying to find lines to follow for all the stitching and it is very complex in some areas.

Insect Ology I am to the free motion quilting on this project too. It is a much different process than Pock Marked- much more a reflective process. It is good for me to switch from one type of free motion work to the other.

Flag – Rejoice For the experiment on this flag I drew on the surface with magic markers and then stayed it with rubbing Alcohol. I hung it on the line so it would run down as it dried. Not all the makers ran because they were different types of markers. The “Sharpies” rand the most. The quote is” Rejoice in the common place.” from an unknown source.

Flag- Find Ecstasy This flag does not have much in the way of experimentation. But when I found this quote l knew I had to use it. It is from Emily Dickenson: “Find ecstasy in life – the mere sense of living in joy is enough.

More Minions I am now finished with the last four minions. I will pass them along to friends who need a lift as I come across them.

I hope summer is on everyone’s door step.

Keep Creating

Carol

Canyon de Chilly, Insect ology, Memory Map Quilts, Minion, Paper Quilts

Spring advancement

May 7, 2015 admin

Hello,

I am so delighted by the changes Mother Nature has wrought this week. From small buds last Thursday to four and five inch leaves this week. It is a wonder that we take for granted. I ate my breakfast out doors after I brushed the fallen maple blossoms off the table. It is an amazing transformation and I can’t get enough.

I have had a full week. I went to the Spring Weekend Retreat at the Schweinfurth Art Center were the new Barbara Fenstein Make Room was dedicated and open for use. Her quilts lined the walls and her sister Emily found this beautiful top among the stash as she sorted things. Some folks knitted, such as Kitsy, Donna and Linda here. Some sewed and some did a bit of both. Linda also did some beautiful thread painting of a on tree she had painted. She had the most extensive thread collection I have ever seen owned by an indivigal. Nancy finished off this little quilt. One she hopes to use as a teaching tool in the near future. I started two tops- one both days. We all had a wonderful time and hope to do it again next spring if not sooner.

Tuesday was meeting day for me. Both QuEGs and Divas meant as it was the first Tuesday of the month. Linda is taking a on line class and having a lot of fun with it. She is turning out a small quilt each month. This is her line assement.

Corinne is making baby blocks for a baby quilt. This one has wonderful thread work in it. I like how she created the shadows on the elephant in the center.

The Divas also had great work to share. Donna has completed this wonderful mirror. The frame is done with black Fimo.

Cheri is to the quilting stage on this wonderful piece. She is machine drawing / quilting out on to the boarder in the form of the white leaves. She also used the colored leaves as quilting line inspiration on the surface. ( you can see the white quilting lines on the purple boarder) It looks great.

Ruth has reached the quilting stage with her quilt too. This is one powerful graphic. She has discovered that quilting with dark blue in the black areas adds a special interest to the surface. Cool thinking!

Cindy is working small as she is still teaching. These are book pages that she will sent to friends of an exchange group. But even working 6” X 6” , she finds she can spend four to six hours on a page. They are all magnificent.

Progress Report: New Work

This is the first top I did on the week end. I used fabric from the Deconstructed Screen class I had taken last fall for the start of this project. I added fabrics I had stenciled and stamped as well as one wipe up cloth . It is ready for quilting and a title.

Insect ology This is the second top I started at the retreat. Funny how the name just came along with the process this time. I created and printed the insects a while back. I used oil sticks for the printing with this project.

Paper Quilt I am still struggling away with this project. It is made up of two pieces of paper that I printed with the Gelli plate last fall. A little of the Tyvek I melted last week is a part of this work. Some parts of it seem to work a lot better then others. I think I will add some additional paint to the surface as Carol Weibe recommends at this point and see if that helps me move forward.

Memory Map- Canyon de Chelly This project also seems to be only inching along. I did add Rosalie and Marty to the image however…… I am thinking this work might benefit from some paint too. The paint could unify sections and take the sharp edge off some areas. It is not holding together too well for my taste yet.

Minions As this picture shows I am still in the process of assembling the Minions. None of them have eyes or legs yet, but each evening I get a little closer.

Place Matts I was drooling over the wonderful fabric that Regina gave me a few week ago when I realized they could become place mats. I now have two new sets and I love them both.

Label Block And the stitches go on. I am enjoying this project as I read the labels- one thing I never really do when they are in clothing.

I am off to visit my friends in Maine next week so there will be no posting for the 14 of May. I will post again on the 21 of May.

Happy Mothers Day to all.

Hugs

Carol

Baby Quilts, Dive In, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Make Visable, Ribbon Work, Running Red, Stretch Daily

Victories

April 23, 2015 admin

Hello,

This week has been a week with several little victories. The first was last Thursday evening when I went to the Prevention Network banquet. Just by chance I sat next to Carolyn and she wanted the quilt I had donated to the cause. As this picture suggests she was successful in her pursuit of that goal. I was as delighted with her achievement of that goal as she was and the Network got the benefit too. Friday was the Towpath Quilt show and I attended that event. This is Victoria’s finished work. I have watched her struggle with this piece and I think her solution is great.

Another event in my week was a trip to the SAQA meeting on Saturday. The group was small but full of exciting ideas. My friend Chris showed two of her framed works. It made me think again about working in that direction.

On Monday I went to visit with another quilting buddy Regina. We had not seen each other sense fall so she had lots of new works. I really like this one were she used discharged paste and then embellished it with lock washers. She had also completed four works from the

Carol Soderlands class in Soy Wax printing that the both of us were in at QBL II. This shot is of the wonderful potato smasher that she brought to class and we all used to print with wax. This shot is a work in progress but she also had four she had completed. They were wonderful insect type pieces that I truly enjoyed. Then because I just can’t seem to get enough play time with other creative soles, I went to play with Cheri yesterday. We had fun painting on Tyveck. I now have a new pile of altered material to add to my stash. I will do the melting of some of the surfaces tomorrow. Ans as Cheri suggested one does not need to melt all the Tyvec to use it.

The Big success of this week was saving the Baby quilt I had ruined. At the Towpath show I talked with Angela about the problem of my marker marks. I told her of the methods I had tried and she listened very sympathetically. Her suggestion was I try Oxi Clean. I stopped on the way home and got some at the grocery store. It did not take all of the marks out on the first run( the fifth wash) but it did diminish them. I air dried it and Sue Ellen looked at it on Sat before we went to the SAQA meeting. She said they barely showed and suggested I repeat the process again. So I did. To my delight when I went down and took the work off the line yesterday it was clean. I only took six washes to do the trick. I will give the quilt to the expectant mother and tell her that I know it will withstand lots of washing. I am so very thankful for my encouraging friends. They pushed me forward on this project until it was a Success.

Running Red 39" X 46" — Running Red
39″ X 46″

Progress Report: Running Red I am delighted with how this quilt finally came out. The curving quilting did prove to be a big challenge for me, but I think it works in the end. I used a variegated thread and that proved to be a good idea as well because some times it faded into the background and other times it stood out.

I used silk from an Obi, taffeta, and old table cloth I had done deconstructed screen printing on and cotton in this work. The quilting pattern of the swirls came from the Obi.

Make Visible I had so much success with the circular quilt pattern in Running Red that I tried a variation on that idea with this quilt. I am going to write the words in the quilting pattern on the surface. This shot is of the letter patterns I will be following.

Flags: Stretch DailyI am working away on the flag challenge too. What a great place to try new things and explore. This time I did a little trumpto on the dark green figures. I added green plastic to give more interest and I cut new bigger stencils that I then spray painted on the work. Lastly, I added the letters. They are cut from a photograph and stitched down. My talk with Susan made me feel that adding paper to the work was okay.

Flags: Dive In With this flag I took the paper idea even further. The week before I had been dyeing with Ethel and I put paper under the work so the wax would be absorbed and I left it under when I dyed too. So I had several pieces of beautiful papers on the desk when I was playing with this project. I traced the painted sections of the flag on the papers and cut them out. Then I stitched them down.

Ribbon Work This work is moving along- but I have hit a snag with the fact that I have used the whole spool of yellow ribbon now. I need to live with it before I decide what will be my next move.

Label Block The nightly work goes on with this project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Baby Quilts, Fabric Collage Constructions, Flag Challenge, Label Blocks, Machine Drawing, Make Visable, Name Game, Patti, Running Red, Spring Grass, Vernal Equinox

Mistake- Lesson Learned

April 16, 2015 admin

Hello,

I have had a mixed week. I spent Friday morning last week helping my friend Nancy and her Grand Daughter Jaelyn do a little stencil work. They were making a back pack and Jaelyn wanted her name on the flap. We had a pleaset time stenciling and as soon as she was finished, Jaelyn pulled out the feather weigh and was ready to get back to assembly.

The upsetting thing this week was a gift project. I was making a baby quilt for a friends grandchild and I was nearly done. I only had to add the strings for the balloons that the bears were holding and I would be complete. I thought I really wanted to the strings to be strait so I pulled out a marker and drew the lines on to follow. I was excited as I could see the end of the surface work for this project. I did not take time to test the marker and that was my down fall. When it came time to wash out the marks I found that I had picked up the wrong tool and the marks will not come out. I have tried several of the ways various folks have suggested from the inner net, but no success. The quilt is ruined as a gift of course. The pens do look similar, but that is an excuse. I can go and purchase a gift, but some how that will not be the same. I have no one to blame but myself for my haste. I am disappointed with myself. I am certain I will not make that mistake again.

Progress Report: Name Game III- Patti This quilt is 14” X 26” . I am so enjoying this process as it really challenges my design skills when it comes to putting the blocks together. One change in direction can change the whole movement of the work. I like all the texture of the raw edges too as they seem to add a different type of movement to the final work. There is also the challenge of using letters as a starting point because the shapes of letters involve strait lines and curves in ways I do not think of drawing usually. This shot is of the work before I cut it into pieces. I am dreaming of a new challenge using more then one name. This could add to the spice of the project.

Vernal Equinox This work is 22” X 25”. I call this building process fabric collage. I used lots of fabric textures in this work. There are velvets, valures, satins, cottons, corduroys, and brocades here. The wading and folding adds its own texture to the end product too. I was trying to fill the surface with visual interest and I feel it was successful.

Running RedI am to the quilting stage of this project so I am only showing a detail this week. I used the pattern on the red silk as my inspiration for that quilting pattern. As it is turning out the double knit on the old table cloth( on the left here) has some woven patterns in it that are similar to the swirls of the silk pattern.

Make Visible is the title I have chosen for this new work. I spent and afternoon with Susan last summer trying out all her mark making tools and in doing that I wrote lots of different quotes. I had pulled out a bunch of fabric last week and this piece seemed to go with one of the collections. This shot shows how I star the assembly of this type of quilt. I lay out were I want the big blocks and then I begin to fill in the spaces around them to create the top using 2.5 ” and 1″ strips.

Flag- Spring Grass I got a call from Susan this week. She too is struggling with this flag challenge that we created. We agreed that for both of us, starting with the central image or center of interest first- is not the way either of us works. I am not comfortable filling in around the graphics we are both working with. But I will persist as that is how growth takes place. I only finished this one this week. I am still struggling with the text as a part of this challenge too.

Label Block The beat goes on with this project.

Keep Creating

Carol

Diva Meetings, Label Blocks, Name Game, Patti, Running Red, Whip Shock Hill #2

Spring Effects

April 9, 2015 admin

Hello,

I will admit that the weather and the sight of spring flowers does effect me. I have been on real “start new” push of late. I have also been a little upset with one of my pieces- but more on that later. This week was the Diva meeting and I was very excited as I have not been to one sense Oct. The winter has been a bad one and it really kept me home. But before the meeting Cheri, Noel and I went to see Alice’s show of her accordion fabric books in down town Ithaca. They looked wonderful on the walls. There were several I had never seen and so I am glad we made the effort to go and check the show out. There was lots and lots of new work at the Diva meeting too .Alice is getting ready for the Spring Art Trail and so she had this pillow among other things to share. This one along with several others that will be for sale on the trail.

One of the things that Lorrie does, is deep layered hand work and this is the one she is currently working on. She builds so many stitches on top of organza and other fabrics to create great depth. A different sort of collage fabric effect.

Cheri is doing wonderful canvas work were she starts with freezer paper masks and builds paint layers on top and then stitches by hand and machine on top. The layering is amazing to me. Like me, she always has many things going at the same time and this spider ( in progress) is and example of her 3-D work. I had given her the fabric that she used for the legs and body and I think that is why she brought it along. Liese did this soft “Island Garden “ as her entry for a garden completion. The plants that she stitched are ones that could grow under the sea/ tide/ wet conditions of the area. Quilting can expand your horizons in unusual ways.

Anne had this specular work to share too. I really enjoy how she cuts up her photo graphics to use as strong jumping off points for her work. I find this piece wonderful!

Noel showed us several works and among them were these two quilts for the Rainbow Challenge for the Tow Path Quilt Guild. These two along with 22 others will be on display next week end at the guild show in the Manilas Library. Ruth has finished her quilt about Kemo Treatment and it is wonderful. I am sorry that my photo of the full work is not sharp enough to post- but this close up shows how powerful her stitching is. She has such strong skills.

Then Wednesday, I went and spent the day playing at Batik with my friend Ethel. We had a grand time and I now have six new pieces that will be starting off places for more work. She has a wonderful piece on the pin wall and I took a shot of it too. She uses her hand dyes so very well. I have been watching this one develop over the course of this year. She keeps moving the pieces about as she develops the idea.

Progress Report: Whip Shock Hill II This work has given me a mix of emotions this week. I had worked so carefully on mimicking the photo and I liked that portion of the work. I am done with the stitch work and all the textures are down. But- it does not work for me at all! So I roll it up on Friday and decided to take it to the Diva meeting and ask for help. I am so very glad I did! One can easily get trapped in there own head and not “see” how to get out ad solve a problem. When I put this work on the wall next to Whip Shock Hill I the group could see it was not working too. But they helped with an easy suggestion. Flip the new piece and add it to the other side. I love the results and I can now add the sleeve and complete the set.

New Start All the frustration I was feeling about Whip Shock Hill and the effects of spring pushed me to pull materials for a new work. I think all of these fabrics play well together and will make a nice piece. It will be my next project.

New Start Running Red I pulled these fabrics at the same time. I created the red and white fabric in the Deconstructed Screen Class last fall and I really wanted to use it so I started with that stack. There is some silk kimono and taffeta in this work too. I think the frustration I was feeling also effected me a bit so I wanted to do something that I felt sure about. It is coming along nicely now.

Name Game III- Patti This is how this work looks before I started to cut it up. A little planning will help the next time I do this technique. And that planning is in the size of the work. I was so concerned with getting the letters to fit that I was not careful with the size of the base. In the last two pieces I stared with 22” squares and made 5.5” squares when I cut up the two layers. This time I made the base 24 “ and had to make 4.5” squares and I lost some of the image from each row because it did not cut down to even units. One needs to make the mistakes to grow. I then pinned the blocks to the pin wall And stated arranging them. That step took a while and I took many photos of the many layouts as I went along. This is the one I settled on. Now I will join them and quilt them together.

Ribbon Work This work is growing slowly. This is a case were not having a per plan may get me in lots of trouble as I go forward. I have been just adding one hour’s worth of work on at a time. But at this point I have no feeling for were I need to go next. So I am just looking at the work.

Label Block 3
The hand work goes on with my evening TV work.

Keep Creating

Carol

Acanthite, Caramelized, New Iris, Oak Leaves, Out of the Dark, Out the Window, Pomegranate, Red Nebula, Yellowstone

Realisations

November 20, 2014 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

I feel so Positive when I think about my work. I did a solo trunk show yesterday for the North Syracuse Art Guild titled

Out the Window 16.5" X 21.5" $125.00 — Out the Window
16.5″ X 21.5″
$125.00

” Your Art /My Art”. In that lecture/ trunks show, I compared my work to the many styles and types of work that the members use. In doing so I really realized how much I draw from the other art categories to get my ideas across. I draw directly on the fabric with pencils, crayons and markers. I use my machine as a drawing tool too. I Paint with acrylic,water color and dye on the surface when I need to create a special effect. I print on the surface using silk screens, stamping and stencils to get images I want on the work. I use some weaving techniques like felting, silk papers and frapping. I often use collage techniques to build up my surfaces with

Red Nebula 18" X 24" — Red Nebula
18″ X 24″

textures and transparencies and different already textured fabrics like velvet and satins. I even embellish with old jewelry on occasion. I am thankful that I get to use from all the different art areas to full fill my creative drive. I realized too that I have been using my experiences and interests to fuel my work for most of my life. Doing a presentation like this is a good way to reflect and re evaluate oneself.

Oak Leaves 45" X 30" $ 350.00 — Oak Leaves
45″ X 30″
$ 350.00

I now have the monster job of returning all the work back into the category packs that I store them in. I feel so very thankful that I am working in so many ways to fulfill my creative ideas.

Acanthite: Foundations XXIV 18" X 23" $ 150.00 — Acanthite: Foundations XXIV
18″ X 23″
$ 150.00

Progress Report: Acanthite :Foundation 24 This quilt is went together very quickly for me. This stone added some problems as some of the areas where a sold white. I wanted to be sure to use velvet and now whale corduroy on this work to show the wonderful textures they add to the surface. There were also lots of cracks on the surface that added interest to this one.

This shot also shows some of the chenille yarn( dark green) and some silk paper( blue- near the top).

Broadcasting I am enjoying doing the hand work on this piece. Most of the saxaphone pads are stitched down now and I am adding beads and french knots to the surface. I have added some reflective quilting to the surface too. This work is going along well at the moment with each actions leading to the next.

Yellowstone The ease that Broadcasting is a great contrast with my slow process on this work. I think I finally have the map portions the correct size and location. I will do the paint step for that and then I will move forward. I also realized that the piece is too pale. Yellowstone has lots of forest and I want to project that feel too so I pulled out dark green organza ( pinned to the left) and adding that will help me go forward I hope.

The Blues This work just needs time as the hand work is a slow thing. I am playing with three of different types of stitches- the chain stitch, the blanket stitch and the fly stitch. I am varying the size of the stitches to add interest.

Caramelized This is a new work that is still in the shifting and pinning stage. I melted the Tyvec that I painted in the fall colors last week, with the iron between sheets of parchment paper. The melt results are so much fun because they are uncontrollable. Mixing them with silk paper makes me think of carmel and melting butter. That is were the title came from. I am enjoying the play.

Keep Creating

Carol

Creative Assistants, Foundations Series, Foundations XXIII Water Marked Sandstone, Machine Drawing, Spill

More Fall Stuff

October 30, 2014 admin 1 Comment

Hello-

Fall is still all around and painting the landscape here with color. I love it.

When football season starts, I watch and spend my time making my Creative Assistants. This is the first batch of 49 that I have completed. I so enjoy the process and it does make the football go by faster for me. It seems the games have lots of time when there is nothing much going on- but commercials, so I stitch away. I enjoy giving them away when I go to Quilting by the Lake every summer. ( there is a tutorial on how to construct your own Creative Assistants below)

I am taking a class called Deconstructed Screen printing with Kerr Grabowski. It starts today and lasting for three days. This is my pile of stuff for the class. I am sure I will come home with lots of new altered fabric to use.

Spill 17" X30" $185 — Spill
17″ X30″
$185

Progress Report: Spill I had a good time working on this piece. I so love texture and this one has lots of different materials that add to that. There is the usual cotton of course, and my current favorite – silk paper then I added iron melted plastic bags and turquoise mylar as well as satin, and course woven silk. I added hand stitching t in the form of french knots, button whole stitches and chain stitches to the surface as well as machine drawing too. I am pleased with the results.

This piece fits very nicely in a little nook in the wall.

Watermarked Sandstone 33.5" X 25" $305.00 — Watermarked Sandstone
33.5″ X 25″
$305.00

Watermarked Sandstone- Foundations XXIII I am finally finished with this newest member of the foundations series. I really enjoyed the free motion work on this project. I had a good time doing the painting on the surface of this piece. Adding the iron nodes to the surface was a bit of a challenge as I tried them in many different locations before I finally selected this layout. Then when I was shooting the work for this entry I discovered that I like it on a 90 degree turn from the direction that I had been looking all the time I was working on the construction. One always needs to be open and aware of what is in front of them.

New Work As I was nearing the end of my work on Spill I realized I needed a new piece to do hand work on so I looked through my sketchbook of ideas. I came across this old idea of using circles and lines for a piece and though I would try it. I have a box full of old Saxaphone keypads that a friend had passed to me and I thought this would be my opportunity to use them to express this idea. There are so many different sizes, colors and textures here- I am sure I will have fun with this work.

I hope all enjoy the colors of the season and the kids all dressed up for Halloween.

Keep Creating

Carol

Agate, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Felt Work, Foundations Series, Foundations XXIII Water Marked Sandstone, Memory Map Quilts, Spill, Yellowstone

Quality

October 23, 2014 admin 1 Comment

Hello,

Leaves continue to be a big part of my daily dose of nature. But I want to talk about a Jewish Proverb I came across in my reading this week. “The Quality of life is fuelled by our productive wealth.” That idea has been on my mind while I have been walking for the last two days. To begin with I really think that my life is a rich and wealthy one, but I think even though I am productive that is not the only thing that adds meaning and value to my life. Quality is strongly related to context. One can have “Quality Time” and for me that can mean just

time spent listening and interacting with a friend or child. A big part of that quality comes with the focus of that time- no distractions or concerns for other things. When I was making the halloween costume for my grandson- (some video game character that I do not know anything about)- that” one on one time ” with him telling me exactly what he wanted and helping with the sewing machine work was real quality time. I spent quality time talking with Nancy on Wed at the FAB meeting when there were only the two us and we got to telling stories about our youth to one another. That shows a quality of trust too. (She is making progress on her quilt and the sky with the clouds she made in silk paper on that sky is great. ) Then there is also quality friendships like the one I share with Nancy and a few others. There is a degree of necessary quality in all our lives for things like shelter, food, good quality air and water- without those assuredness none of the other quality things can come about. We need those quality ingredients to be healthy and to fully appreciate the degrees of wealthy excellence our lives hold.

Agate 23" X 36" $300.00 — Agate
23″ X 36″
$300.00

Progress Report:Agate I finished this work this week. It has been created from a big piece of silk paper that I made with Ethel a few weeks ago. The most difficult part of this project was deciding what side of the silk paper to use- they were both so lovely. I had a good time attaching the silk paper to the quilt with many hand stitches. This project was created with silk hankies that were hand dyed before I put the paper together. I might not have selected these colors to use together on my own, but I sure like them and will try to add this type of mix to my own way of thinking.

Spill This quilt is coming along nicely now. I love all the textures on the surface of this work. This shot shows silk paper- two types the sheet form (on the far left) and the flow form(the green blue at the top) , the iron melted mylar( the turquoise ) and iron melted plastic bag( the apple green). The whole thing has been fun for me.

Watermarked Sandstone I am still doing machine drawing on this work but I can see the end is in sight. Again I am playing with texture- my favorite thing. There are “nodes of iron ore” in the image and so I have created some solid rust colored circles to add to the surface of the piece. Before I can stitch them down I need to add rust colored paint to the surface to show how the water wears away the iron too and in so doing it stains the surrounding stone.

Yellowstone Memory Map I so enjoyed creating the Sandstone Church project that I thought I would do a second memory map type quilt from my childhood. When I was seven, my Dad was a summer ranger in Yellowstone National Park at South Gate. I have wonderful memories of that summer and want to try to put them into this new project. This is layer one and it too is ready for a paint layer to soften and unify some of these parts.

I hope you too are enjoying the fall color and creating fun works.

Hugs

Carol

Alpine Lake, Chrysamthemum, Diva Meetings, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Golden Weeds, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs)

Fall Leaves

October 9, 2014 admin

Hello,

I so enjoy fall, not just the color- and this year it it wonderful, but one of the best things is the sound of walking through the fallen leaves. The crunch, the swish, the crackel, all those sounds and the earthy smell always seems to bring me warm feeling of golden days and slowing down. A heightened feel of awareness of the wonder of the world we live in. I love it.

These beautiful flowers are a gift from my friend Noel. They sure bring the colors and feel of the season into my dinning room.

This was meeting week for me. Tuesday QuEG’s meant at noon. Everyone had lots to share. This shot is of some electron microscope images that Linda thinks she may use as starting points for some work. All of these are various liquors.

Liz is just home from a two week trip to Ohio to Nancy Crow’s barn and a workshop in using Graffiti and Lettering. She had a pile of altered fabrics that she has created that will keep her busy working all winter on just this topic. This one is called “Art Boys”. It sounds like she had fun.

Barb continues to work on her crazy quilts. I really like the Victorian feel this one has. She will have some great family remembrances when she is done and what a great way to collect and display the little bits one seems to collect from family members- like pins and such.

Angela is busy dying again. I love how she uses her abilities to get such wonderful work. This work has several layers of dye on it. These scarves are for the hostesses who are doing a baby shower for her grandson later this fall. She is so wonderfully generous with her work.

Sally is back at her embroidery machine creating wonderful cards for Christmas and fun family gifts. This strawberry is her own design and a family gift. She always give the kids $ presented in a unique way. This year the cash is wrapped inside the layers of the toilet paper inside the berry. She also went so far as to machine embroider the family’s name on the first sheet of each roll. Too much!

Sue Ellen and Corrine are both doing finish up work. Something about fall I think, we want to tidy up a bit before the confinement of winter. Corrine had three wedge cut baby quilts that she was finishing.

Sue Ellen had three distinct, but traditional quilts she had finished and this wonderfully fun Sea Horse piece she created. Each panel in the horse body is a different print and they are all connected with metallic cord that has been zig zaged in place.

Then I went off to the Diva meeting. Cheri and several others of us had spent a few days felting last month. Using materials she produced at that time, Cheri has finished a felted vest for her grand daughter. She used one of her jelly roll slices to create a pin too- its on the right. What fun!

Marty went along with me to the meetings and she showed one of her wonderful Nebula quilts. Everyone is amazed, myself included, in all the bead work and her tiny button whole stitching. She told us she used over 400 beads on one of the nebula pieces. I enjoy how she uses hand dyed fabrics too. wonderful images.

Liesa is working on her Map quilt. All the trees and buildings are in place now. She says there will be more quilts like this one of different locations.

Anne had lots of work to show- four pieces I think. She is getting ready for the Ithaca Art Trail that happens this weekend and next. I like this little whimsical piece the most. So much freedom and action here.

Noel had a wonderful little work that again displayed her techinque. She makes all the blocks and then can try out several arrangements before she puts them together. I like this layout myself.

Susan is getting ready to fly south for the winter. She sold one of her unique little birds that she showed us at the last meeting. Because she wanted to commemorate that event she did these four little paintings of the birds saying good bye. They sure project the happy smiling feeling that Susan always brings to every situation.

Then there was a FAB meeting yesterday morning. Nancy is making great progress on her Flower Bed quilt. She uses big prints and strong colors so very well. This is about one fourth of the top. I can hardly wait to see the full effect.

Patti is doing beading. I love this wonderfully designed small bead- it is only about one fourth inch long( that is the grid of a cutting matt it is setting on) This is the first for a bracelet that will have at least eight unique beads similar to this one .

Chrysanthemum 39" X 48" $675.00 — Chrysanthemum
39″ X 48″
$675.00

Progress Report: Chrysanthemum I am very happy with this work. I used lots of the wonderful silk that I had pruchased from Ginny – most of the reds and purples are her fabrics- and I used the fabrics I had printed on as well. I am still playing with the off square cutting and piecing with this work. It creates challenges when one is quilting and putting sections together, but I am enjoying the process.

I had a good time with the free motion quilting on this work as too. I started with the center most blossom and sort of followed the shapes and forms of the flower to unite the layers of the work. This photos shows how I extended the quilt lines out to finish the petals were need be too. I did total free designing of the flowers in various sizes to fill in all the spaces that remained. I enjoyed this project, but I will admit that I will back my silks with interfacing the next time I use them so I do not get quite so much uncontrolled movement of the seam lines.

Golden Weeds This quilt is having a second life- a sort of face lift. I thought it was done three years ago- and it was OK- but when I was considering work for the Man In the Moon show and I had pulled it out- I thought this just is a good background. Then it hung on the wall for a few weeks. While on a walk, I was taken by the beauty of the Tessel weeds along the road side and thought they were strong enough to stand on top of the old work. First I machine drew in the heads and stems of the plants in a variegated thread. Then I looked for a stronger unit to place on top of that work to make it appear as though some of the plants were even closer to the viewer. I found this copper colored woven ribbon in my stash and felt it would do the job. By adding folded satin ribbon for stems the job was complete. The work is a lot stronger now and I just added a second label to give info about the additions and name change on the back.

Alpine Lake I started playing with the idea of creating a landscape of a mountain setting with a lake. It is all created on top of buckram- so it will not wrinkle up on me – in what I am starting to think of as my college style of construction. I am not gluing anything down, but building from the sky forward with the image. I attach all the parts with machine drawing that adds texture and detail to the work. It is a process that I am enjoying.

New Work blue This is just a background- done this time on purpose- that I want to play on top of. I have some vague ideas about where I am going, but I am still in the sketching stage.

New Work- wavy cuts This top is the same as the one above it. No plan other than to see if I could use wavy cuts in this piece. This too is pure experiment.

I am having a good fall and enjoying walking in the leaves, keeping my eyes open for ideas and just soaking in the sun shine.

Keep your curiosity alive.

Carol

Cre-8

Category Archives: Machine Drawing

Work Space

Travel Log

Spring advancement

Victories

Mistake- Lesson Learned

Spring Effects

Realisations

More Fall Stuff

Quality

Fall Leaves

Creative Fiber Collage Artist Carol Boyer