Category Archives: Trees

Hand work, Lap Quilts, SAQA, Trees, Uncategorized

Fall is Here

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Hello,
We are seeing fall colors in this part of the country. The sky’s have been gray many days, but the trees don’t seem to mind. I had a quiet week with on events except the Dr appointments and PT. Keeping the body in shape takes more and more time as we age.
My good news for the week was learning that my contribution Flight, to the SAQA auction, sold.

Progress Report Lap 26/26 I did 8 lap quilt tops at the retreat last week. Now I am doing the finish up.

Tree Blocks I got all excited when I realized I only had three more blocks to make to finish the piece. So I laid out all three when I got home. This is the first using dotted Swiss as teh base form.

This is the second using cut up felt to define the crown of the tree. I sure have enjoyed making each tree in a different manner. It has been sort of a techniques record/ challenge for me.

This is the last one and I used organza to built the tops of the forest of trees for this one.


Emily’s Project I am excited to be doing the quilting of words that describe the practices types of law cases that it deals with as the quilting. I like doing cursive as quilting.


New Work I know this doesn’t look like much at this point as it is the base. I want a natural beginning for my next piece for the Art Rage show. I found a quote that I want to use and that is want I want to feature.

Protest on a Stick This idea popped into my head and so I exactitude it. I really love it when an idea comes so easily- and that is a real thing for me.

I hope you are enjoying fall.

Keep Creating
Carol

Hand work, Lap Quilts, SAQA, Scrap Happy Quilts, Sisterhood of the Scissors, Trees

Home Again

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Hello,
I arrived home yesterday from the Sisterhood of the Scissors fall retreat. We have been going to Keuka Lake for 6 years and it feels like home coming. The weather was fine with rain only one day, so we did walk every day and did tons of work.

Every year one of the group chooses a fabric for a challenge. This year there where three rules.
1.the fabric had to be recognizable.
2.there had to be some ” bling”
3.there should be some handwork as a part of the project.
They were due and it was fun to see how others used the fabric that Susan selected last year. This is my solution.

Joyce did hers in 3-D. Her bling was teh handwork she added.

During the week she did this scarf weaving. Nice job with great colors.

This is Susan’s challenge project. Her bling was beading in the center of each circle.

She worked on a puff quilt for her mom during the retreat time. This looks luscious to me and it is so very colorful!

This lovely green print is the challenge fabric for next year selected by Cheryl our newest member. Ann will also add a quote for us to respond too as a part of this year’s challenge.

We also had a bit of show and tell. This is Ann’s work- the Block Head Challenge for this year. Very handsome, I think. She has challenged us to Do the Block Head by MODA challenge for this next year as an extra as well.

Ann spent the time doing handwork on this pieces that she had hand dyed a few years ago. Strong start I think.

Za za shared this beautiful top. Her use of gray as apposed to black for the filler is really nice. She spent a lot of time putting bindings on work at the retreat.

Deb worked on a portrait of her grandson and the dog.

This was Cheryl’s first year and only her first quilt. It is a very strong start! I hope she continues to quilt.

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Progress Report: Bog Log This work is 38″ X 34 “. I worked away on this project at the retreat. There is lots of handwork as well as free motion on here. Joyce let me use her markers on the Puff Balls so they look more realistic.

I enjoyed creating the shelf mushrooms too. They were made with interfacing and paint.

Scrap Happy I arranged and put together these rows of blocks for the next scrap happy quilt. I will have to make a back now.

Tree Block quilt I trimmed up all the blocks that I had created at the retreat and discovered I needed three more to completed this work. Back to work.

Tree Block When I got home I got busy and layed out a new one. I worked on this during the Pixie Zoom meeting yesterday afternoon.

Emily’s quilt I had finished the top and the back before the retreat. There I had access to four tables for a few hours when I first arrived so I got it pin based in that time. I did not get started quilting until I got home because the throat of my travel machine could not handle the size. I will move forward on this now.

Lap Quilt Tops I had lots of left over 2.5″ and 4.5″ strips from previous lap quilts so I decided to bring them along and make tops out of some of them. It was fun and I now have a very reduced pile of strips. I think I could stretch one or perhaps two more out of remaining strips- but I will concentrate on finishing up these first.

Being back at my normal life I am sure production next week will be back to normal. It was enjoyable to have no goals but to work from the time one got up until one went to bed.

Keep Creating
Carol

Bog Log, Hand work, Landscapes, Lap Quilts, SAQA, Trees

Moving into Fall

Hello,
The days are getting shorter and the sun is moving north. I now see the sun coming up directly through my east facing door. By the end of next week it will be beyond that point.
This week was quiet except for my meeting with Emily about the commission. I was excited about the chance to show off the work I had done, only to discover the afternoon before that I had made a big mistake in my thinking and all the stitched work had to be taken out. I am back on track now. I did a lot yard work this week and had a few Dr appointment so I did not get as much done as I wanted. Next week is full meetings so studio time will be limited next week too, but that’s the way it is sometimes.
I was delighted to discover that my 12″x12′ quilt “Flight” was featured in an add for the SAQA Auction.

Progress Report: Broken Blocks II I started the backing of this quilt this week. I am making it out of leftovers. I like to use my fabric wisely.

Bog Log I am moveing forward on this project and I made these ferns yesterday. I have more to wash out, but I don’t have a big enough foam board to wash them out on. I am moving forward on the clutter on the forest floor too.

Tree Block I think this is the last block for this project as I now have 30. I have not laid out any of them yet. Nor have I trimmed them to size, but that will happen.

Pillow I finished up this pillow this week. It is stuff with thread and cut away parts form other projects.

Lap 22/26- Yellow Challenge Susan of Pixies challenged up to use yellow last week and so I did a lap quilt with that in mind. This week the challenge is to use Red. I don’t think I will have time to do a quilt this week, but I will do something.

Quilt on a Stick Challenge At Marcia’s camp two weeks ago’ Victoria suggested that we do a small quilt on a stich like they do at the Minnesota State Fair. She shared great photos and we agreed it would be fun. So this is my drawing of a 8.5 ” X 11″ of the project. I am moving forward on this one as I want to share it with the group on Wed when the Sisterhood of teh Scissors next meets.

I hope you are enjoying the season and making wise choices.
Carol

Hand work, Landscapes, Lap Quilts, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Trees

Moving Along

Hello,
I am feeling like I have my feet back on the ground now. I do get so much from QBL and it so exhausting too.
My big adventure for this week was a little trip to Homer to see the Rock Garden show at the Art Center and spend the day with Cheri. She had lots of great work on the wall. Exploring faces is her goal of late. I really like this work of her friend Liz. I think it looks like her too.

Terry also had a great piece in this show. We enjoyed our time to just talk as well.

Progress Report: Lap 19/26 I am still trying to use the extra edge pieces that I have created for other lap quilts. I think there are two more quilts in this style in the box. I only need to sew down the binding on this work now.

Lost Liberties I stitch down the flame and the broken tablet this week. I am working on the tree lines now. I hope to complete this project this week too.

Tree Blocks – Joshua Tree I finished up this work while I was in the Pixie Zoom meeting this week. I am getting close to the end of the blocks for this project. I think I will need to add a bit to the earlier blocks as I seem to have gotten a bit more elaborate over time.

Sorrel Cactus I started right away on the next block when the previous one was finished. I do so enjoy hand work.

Cross Lake I stared this at QBL in Valerie’s class. I am almost finished with this project. It needs a label and a bit on the binding.

Wildfire The wildfires are haunting me as we seem to have smoky skies almost daily here. Not having any more Judy Robert fabrics to use as my starting point I created one of my own yesterday. The colors are not as rich, but the challenge is to make it work.

Keep Creating
Carol

QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Shows, Trees

This year’s QBL

Hello,
I got home from the two weeks of Quilting by the Lake last Friday. It was a good time as usual. It is aways so much fun to reconnect with old friends. I think I made a few new connections too. I had class With Luke Haynes week one. He dose fun work and a self portrait every year. He helped us all through exploring doing self portraits. I still need to do the stitching down and make a quilt out of mine. I was surprised at how much it looked like me in the end. We then went forward to do a second one. I am still struggling with that one. Some how I got the glasses out of alinement and that messed p the whole face.

My friend Thresa was in the class and this is her self portrait. I think it is great!

So too was Ellen. i love her background choice. We had a good time and all learned a lot I think.

Week one we auctioned off the quilt that I helped cut parts for last two years ago. Last year at QBL Kathy pass out bags of parts to folks and they assembeled them and returned the finished blocks. The money raised goes for scholarships and the quilt raised $350. Kathy put them together and quilting them over the winter. This year she is just asking for 6.5″ squares from folks. I am sure she will get some wild work.

Week two was Transparencies with Valerie Goodwin. This class was small with only 10 of us, but it was great too. This first transparency is Victoria’s work. She is having fun playing with her rooster image.

I did these two works. The Black and White is made from pieces Valerie provided for our use. The landscape of the lake is all my own creation. I had pre-sent her the water lilies and just tried to build a home for them. I would do it a bit differently if I could re do it. The flowers are too harsh.
I am still playing catch up with myself, but I am feeling like I an getting my feet on the ground. It is alwasy so very stimulating and I come home full of new ideas and things to think about.

On Monday I hung my Solo show at Piet Library in Syracuse. The set up there dose not work well for quilts so I used only my beaded work as it is mostly stretched on foam core or stretcher bars.
This show will be up until August 28.

My other excitement this week was meeting with Lawyer Emily Larson-Hatch to get approval to move forward on a wall piece for her office. This is the drawing. Now I need to purchase the fabric to do the job.

Progress Report: Lady Liberty I am moving forward on this project now and feeling good about it. This is my work on the torch.

Tree Blocks: Palm Tree – Joshua Tree I finished the Palm tree block before I went off to QBL. Then I tried to work on the Joshua Tree while I was there. But I was usually too tired to put in the time in the evening. It is moving along nicely now.

This entree is so late because I was having trouble with the computer. It seems access to my email, where I collect the images, was unaccusable yesterday.
Keep Creating
Carol

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Lap Quilts, QBL- Quilting By the Lake, Trees

Movening Forward

Hello,
Summer is a busy time! This week I spent three days preparing for a big house party here and then another day doing clean up.
We have been in this house for 50 years and so we celebrated. Needless to say that except for doing a lot of studio clean and organizing, I did not do much this week. I did pull materials for QBL that starts on Sunday.

Progress Report: Broken Blocks- Sisterhood of the Scissors Challenge 2025-2026 This work is 50″ X 58″. I enjoyed working on this after I got going. It is a different pallet for me and I liked that.

Lap 18-26 This top is all done now and I have even pin basted it. I will not get back to it for a while as QBL will take all my time.

Palm Tree Block As you can see I only worked a few min. on this project. I am off to Marcia’s Makers tomorrow and I intend to spend the day at this then.

Enjoy your next two weeks as I am sure I will too.

Keep Creating,
Carol

Hand work, Lap Quilts, Trees

Summer

Hi,
Summer is in full swing and everyone is very busy. I had a stomach virus for three days last week and so I stay home and did not get much done. I missed most of the 4th of July events. I only watch fireworks on the television. Being ill sure makes on appreciate their good heath!
We are putting lots of effort into preparation for out annual July Birthday event on Sunday. We are mixing it with a celebration of living in this house for 50 years. Today, we will put up the assembled cabinets in the laundry room. Tomorrow the yard clean and organize will be our goal. Sat will be food prep and finish up. It will be fun to see everyone.
Progress Report: Lap 18-19 I did set at the machine a bit yesterday and added to this piece. It may not be finished before I go off to QBL, but I am Okay with that.

Broken Blocks I have pressed the back in preparation for layering and assembly. Again, this may on may not get attention as the yard and so many other little things are demanding attention.


Tree Block- Palm Tree I seem to find more time to do handwork as that is a sit down activity I can do in the evenings.
I am off to hold up cabinets while Eric connects them to the walls.
Keep Creating
Carol

Drawing, Felt Work, Hand work, Lap Quilts, Trees

Adirondack Trip

Hello,
Last weekend I went up to Marcia’s camp on Chase Lake in the Adirondacks. I enjoyed the dock and did my morning pages there every day. We had three wonderful days of good weather and good times. On Friday we went out and did a bit of shopping.

One of our stops was a basket makes and we all purchased great baskets from her. We visited two jewelers and the others spent there as well. Our last stop of the day was the sweet shop for ice cream.

Then on Saturday we took a dirt road north to Old Forge and went to The View to see the displays. We were not at all disappointed there either. The Members show included this awe-inspiring felt work. There were several other felted projects to and I am sure I will do some work in a similar direction. There was also a wonderful tryptic by our friend Divina Roddie. So good to finally see one in real life.
There was also a solo show that was inspiring. Then Victoria and I took a long walk on Sunday morning before we started home. The whole time was relaxing and very pleasant.


Progress Report: Lost Libertys I was away so much this week that I did not make a lot of progress, but the flag as a binder is all sewed down now.

Tree Block This was the only project that I took on the trip so I finished it. I intended to make a cherry tree- but the French knots looked more like apples so that is what it became. Sometimes the materials have a mind of their own.


Color Challenges – Green This was the color word for this week and I just started doodling in the sketch book for this one.

Broken Block backing I used leftovers from the front for this backing. The starter fabric is the Sisterhood Retreat Challenge fabric. None of it is visible here. It was a challenge for me as I usually don’t use this pallet of gray and pale rose. It pushed me to look at my stash of neutrals and so I pulled some out for the next lap quilt.

‘


Lap 18/26 AS you can see I have done very little on this project so far- but I think it will go together quickly.

I have to add this shot of a power line full of sneakers that we passed under on our travels over the weekend. It was/is very impressive as it stretched across the highway! I can’t imagine how many hours and dollars it represents.

Enjoy the 4th, stay cool, and be creative.
Carol

Hand work, Lap Quilts, SAQA, Trees, Uncategorized

Moving Forward

Hello,
It has been a quiet week with family and yardwork being where most of my energy went this time. I am also pulling materials for a three day silk screen workshop that starts tomorrow.
Progress Report: Lap 16/26 This work is nearly complete. I have a little quilting and the binding to do and it will be done. Nice bright colors for the gloomy day I started it.

Night Tree I am enjoying working on this block. Making lots of fly stitches for the branches here. I hope to get so inspiration for the next tree block soon.

New Block I drew out this block a few months ago and then put it aside. I came across it again this week and blew it up and did the drafting of the templates. I like the block parts- but this sample block has too many different pieces and graphics to be effective for me. I will try something else with this one later.

Shoreline Wash Up I keep working away on this project. It is starting to feel like it is moving in the direction I want. I am still not thrilled with it so I glad that I will have my mind in a different place during the workshop this weekend- I hope that brings me back to this project with fresh eyes and I can see where I want to go with it.

Fungus There is my play with the SAQA Fungus Challenge, I am fooling around with caroche around the plastic units that hold soda bottles to create some interesting high relief forms for that purpose. It is a pure experiment and it seems to have a life of it’s own. But I enjoy it.

Liberty Loss I’m moving forward slowly on this project. added the purple mountains and trees this week. The fields of grain are pinned in place Too. The city will complete the background I think.

Enjoy the season,
Carol

Hand work, Lap Quilts, Shows, Trees

Noticing Nature

Hello,
Nature is really all around me of late. This family of Canada Geese crossed our path as we walked yesterday. Then this morning we saw a skunk in the back yard and an open blue Robin’s egg on our walk. I love the great things that appear in Spring.

I went to the Art Rage gallery on Thur even and enjoyed the show on Plastic in Our World show. This use of detergent bottles was my favorite.

Last Friday Cheri and I went to the Genesee Valley Quilt Show in Rochester. FLFA was well represented. These two works are by Bev.

Jean won two first place ribbons for her work. This piece looked really great and the washboard musician from last fall was the other pieced. My Plastic Silverware was part of the NY/ NJ SAQA show too. We had a great time and saw some old friends on this trip.

Progress Report: Lap 14/26 I need to finish the quilting and add the binding on this work. I will do that today so I am showing it for the last time today. I will make another run to the nursing home on Tue and it will be gone.


Lap 16/26 I pulled all these bright colors for the next lap on a very gran and gloomy day this week. They cheered me up.

Night Tree I appliqued the moon on this next tree block. I will stitch the tree in this week.

Liberty’s Loss I am struggling with how I want to do the background for this piece. I seem to be a bit overrun with ideas. I may just have to do them and make the decision visually. Sometimes that is the only way to go forward.


Doll Pins I played with applique by adding scraps to water color paper and doing free motion stitching on top to distract myself from the Liberty project and made some more bodies for the pin project. Sometimes distractions helps.

Blue I need to do this handwork at my desk because of all the beads and such so it does not get attention on a daily basis, but I am making progress on it.

I am enjoying spring and I hope you can say the same.
Keep Creating
Carol