More Progress!

I got a lot done on Walk in the Woods 2 this weekend.  The machine embroidery is done, and I've started the hand embroidery.

The lighting on this photo is lousy, but I can't seem to get it right.  Next time I'll have to hang this on the design wall to photograph.

And, I started quilting on the background matte.  It will be a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it in the end.  I love how the pebbling makes the leaf shapes pop.

 

I'm away on a business trip for two nights, but I'll have the hand embroidery to keep me busy in the hotel room.  I'm taking an extra long weekend next week- I'm hoping to get a lot of this quilting knocked out!

I hope your week is a creative one!

Progress

I am plugging along on Walk in the Woods 2. I got all the background quilting done this weekend. I am always blown away by how much difference all the thread makes to the look of a piece.

And, I got the background matte pieces cut and sandwiched. I'm using a mid weight non-woven stabilizer and black felt instead of batting. I ended up doing some surface design on part of the matte, then I'll quilt to add focus to the motifs. 

I am getting lazier and lazier about getting out my laptop to post- we'll see how this one turns out, since I'm doing it on my iPad. In the meantime, have a good (and hopefully creative!) week!

A week later, and I can say I won't be using my iPad to post, unless it's a short post without pictures.   I can't control the placement of the photos in the app, and I have no clue how to edit my photos to make them smaller on the iPad.  So posting will continue to be done on my laptop.

It's Snowing . . . and Dyeing

Our storm, however, wouldn't hold a candle to the Nor'easter that's pounding the east coast.  It's supposed to snow overnight, but I don't think we're going to get more than a couple of inches.  I decided I couldn't wait for the new stuff, so I found some old, icy snow that was clean enough to use.  So this will probably be more like doing ice dyeing than snow dyeing.

After all my experiments with the grays, I needed some color.  Liza Anne brought some gorgeous snow dyes she'd done to the last meeting of the Utah county art quilt group I belong, and they were all about color.  She had one emerald green piece that was stunning.  So we'll see what I get with these.

 Sabrecon red and gold yellow- I think on a couple of Pimatex fat quarters.

 Cerulean blue, and a green made with the same blue and lemon yellow, on Radiance.  That's the luscious fabric that is silk on one side, cotton on the other.  Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

Bamboo/cotton fabric with bright blue and Sabrecon red dyes.  I haven't dyed a lot of that fabric, but when I have, it has been gorgeous.

 A yard or so of Pimatex, with Cerulean blue and lemon yellow.  I swirled this one before I put it in the container, we'll see what effect that has.

A couple of rectangular silk scarves, with Sabrecon yellow and fuschia.

The Sabrecon dyes were gifted to me several years ago- from what I was told, they could be as much as ten years old now.  I figured this was as good a time as any to use them up.

I'm going to throw a couple of pieces of unknown cotton on the bottom of a couple of the bins, just to see what happens.  The bins are all covered in plastic, sitting in my cool studio.  So now we wait.  I figure it will be at least Monday before everything is melted.

I had another lovely surprise related to 'Walk in the Woods', which I entered into the Weaver's Guild show in Salt Lake and had the thrill of winning an award.  I subscribe to an online arts magazine (15 Bytes) that covers the arts in Utah. They have an article on the show in the current issue- imagine my surprise to read a mention of my piece!  They didn't include it in the photo gallery, but it was nice to get a mention.  Hopefully this link will take you to the article- for whatever reason, Blogger does not want to cooperate!
http://artistsofutah.org/15bytes/13feb/page6.html

And, I have the trees section of the second in the series about half quilted.  I am happy with how it is coming along, and already thinking ahead to the next step- the machine embroidery.  I'm thinking of using a heavier thread than I used on the first one- but I'd have to find the thread, and do some samples!

A busy week at work, then the last long weekend of the winter arrives.  I'm hoping to make lots more progress on the trees quilt, and have some gorgeous hand dyes to show off!

I'm linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday post- make sure to go over there and see what all the other artists have been up to!

Weaver's Guild Show

Last Friday, DJ and I met his sister and went to the Weaver's Guild show in Salt Lake.  I wanted to see my piece along with all the others that were entered!

The show is at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, a multi-purpose venue.  The gallery itself is in a nice, well-lit room.  I thought the guild did a very nice job of setting up the show.

Nice to see my piece hung, with the award information right there!

I loved the silk dress that was right next to it.

 

Hand dyed silk, of course- and it was gorgeous.

Being a weaver's guild, there was no lack of useful and utilitarian items.

I loved this rug made from Pendleton wool yardage selvedges.

This bobbin lace was exquisite.  I learned that my sister-in-law had tried to learn bobbin lace from the maker of this piece.

Loved the scarves!

This piece was done by another Surface Design member, Diane Hauerter.

And I thought this copper weaving was stunning.

All in all, I thought the show was well done, and I'm honored to have won an award.

I also managed to spend some time in the studio.  I had some charm squares, and put them together with white sateen to come up with this small modern quilt.  It will probably end up with Shannon- she likes the fabrics much more than I do!  

 

It reminded me of why I like improvisational piecing- but at least I know I can still piece with precision!  Now I just need to get it quilted- we'll see which I find less stressful to do, this one or Walk in the Woods 2.  But there's no doubt I'll be quilting on something this weekend!

Hope your week is a creative one--