A Lost Art

Or maybe it would be a lost skill?  I am continually amazed at how the ability to express oneself in writing, with good grammar and spelling, is eroding.  They sure don't seem to be teaching it in school!

The state of Utah recently painted off a section for motorcycles in the parking lot at the regional center in Provo.  Obviously those who did the work don't have access to spellcheck, a dictionary, or any other means of ensuring spelling accuracy.

Geez.

I haven't had a lot to blog about lately, but I am off to Salt Lake to meet with my WAQ group, and also get a small gift quilt quilted.  If I can manage it this weekend, I might even have some quilty content! 

Taking a Break and Taking Stock

I'm sitting in a friend's living room in one of my favorite places in the world, Moab.  I drove down yesterday so I could spend some time with her.  I'll be working here tomorrow, then heading home.  It's been a relaxing weekend so far.  Spring hasn't quite arrived here, but the red rocks are as beautiful as ever.

After several weeks of feeling frustrated and uninspired, I'm taking a break from ART.  I want to kick back, do some mindless piecing, which will include hopefully getting a couple of UFO's finished.  Friday was a good start- my WAQ group met at Suzanne's, and helped her piece a quilt top for her mother who was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Four of us sewed for about three hours, and we got the top almost completely done.  It felt good!!

Besides the UFO's, I'm going to sew some clothing- something I haven't done for a long time.  Very little of my wardrobe fits me anymore, so I have a good excuse.  

So that's what's going on with me.  We going to wander Moab's downtown later today, then have dinner at the Moab Brewery.  It's feeling like the kind of weekend I need- relaxing, no stress or expectations of tasks needing to be completed, and enjoying a friend's company.  If my hands feel the need to be busy, I brought my knitting- maybe that one sock will finally get done!!

Not much to blog about-

I haven't been doing much with fiber or dyes, despite the fact my next IT! piece needs to be finished in a couple of weeks.  I have a meeting with my WAQ friends today- we are checking out a new independent fabric store in Salt Lake.  I hear they have lovely rayon batiks.  And, there's a yarn store next door, so I'm sure we'll wander in there too.  We're enjoying a bit of Indian summer weather, so it should be a nice day.

And, I've stuck to my 'regimen' for almost two weeks.  Funny, but logging every bit of food you eat means I'm not thinking about it much.  I haven't felt deprived, and I'm not eliminating any foods- just making choices based on calorie counts.  I sure hope this works, after losing three pounds I seem to be stalling a bit.  But, I've no intentions of stopping it, it is becoming just a part of my daily routine.

Hopefully later this weekend I'll actually have some fiber or quilty content to post.  I do have some scarves marinating in rust and tannin, those should be washed out this weekend.  Now I'm off to Salt Lake--

Summer, Where Are You??

I'm having a hard time believing it is mid-June. Usually by now I'm complaining because we've gone from the 70's straight to the mid-90's. We did have a nice, slow warmup spring- and we've stayed stuck there.

Thursday night we went to a Kelly Clarkson concert at UVU- outdoors, in the baseball field. DJ and a friend stood in line for four hours so we'd get on the field in the first rush. Bentlee and I joined them about an hour before they opened the gates. It rained off and on all day- then cleared in the late afternoon. Still, it was cold for June. I dressed in four layers, all long sleeve.

We started out on the field, closer to the stage. Then we figured out that the only way we'd see anything would be to stand, so we moved to a hill where we could see sitting down. (I half thought about taking a picture of the lovely butts surrounding us- but refrained!)

It stayed dry through the opening act, then started to rain when Kelly came on. Here's our view of the stage-



And here's the view towards the stands where the expensive tickets were. By this time, I was not only in four layers, I was under an umbrella and had a blanket wrapped around my legs!



It eventually did stop raining, and I got this great shot of a rainbow off to the south.



I continue the work on the baby curtains. All that's left is the tabs, and sewing them in the curtains.



And, Shannon and I dyed two shirts that got stains on them that wouldn't come out. My tank top used to be yellow, now it's cafe au lait- which is what I stained it with! Shannon got chocolate on her white shirt, and decided a purple one would be great.



I need to get stressed about some upcoming deadlines. Our WAQ group met Friday, and Kathleen showed some awesome fabrics she did playing with marbling materials. Her Microscopy piece is almost done, and it was awesome too. So why am I feeling so bereft of inspiration? Maybe this crap weather has something to do with it- here's the view from our street just an hour ago, looking west.



Depressing, no?? Where is the SUN???

It's Quilted!!!!!


Autumn Mountains is quilted- in one day!!! I cannot believe the difference a longarm setup makes. I actually had all but the last pass done in less than four hours, then stopped for our WAQ meeting.

It is not perfect by any means, but I am thrilled. I got the movement I wanted, and at least some of my gaffes will be covered by the leaves I will applique. As for my learning, here they are in a nutshell-

• Pieced blocks with lots of busy prints and variations in value are a challenge to quilt. I was using monofilament, and in many areas I literally could not see where I had already quilted. Consequently, I had some areas where I overlapped motifs, and others where I had to fill in. The upside- if I can't see it, neither will the viewer!
• Mark the bottom of where you can quilt. You don't want to end up with definite 'rows' of quilting, and these help plan ahead.
• Microhandles are a godsend, especially for those of us who aren't used to a longarm. I felt more in control, closer to the needle. (A side point- the HQ 16 is the only long/midarm with control buttons on both the microhandles and the regular handles. So, I could turn it on and off without having to move my hands. Much, much easier!
• Crawling under the frame lets you get a good view of what you've quilted, and where you might need to fill in. At least it works on a Hinterberg frame!

I have a little bit of quilting to do on the tree, but that will be easy to do on my Juki since it's mostly on one side. I'll be using Jeans Stitch- I want a fat line with matte thread. Then I'll get busy on the leaves- lots of them!

I have been thinking about my edge finish. Two layers of batting (where the tree is will be a challenge- but I think I have an unconventional idea that will work. And, it will let me face the other areas of the quilt, which is my preference since I used up all the border fabric, and I don't want a definite line like a binding would have.

Our WAQ group came up with two challenges we will be working on- one larger piece, 16 X 24, and a smaller one that will be mounted on a canvas. I'll be posting more as I start my research and musings!

And finally, if you've read this far- Happy Valentine's Day! I hope yours is filled with love and laughter!

(Not-so) Lazy Day

I was hoping to get all the grunge work done this morning, but no such luck. It's 4 pm, the last load of laundry is in the washer, our bathroom is cleaned, main and upstairs vacuumed. So it's looking like I won't get to Blue Tsunami until tomorrow, but that's ok- I won't have any distractions. Maybe I can bribe Shannon to put the lasagne for tomorrow's dinner together before she leaves for clinic at 11- that would make it perfect!

And even if I'm not getting to any art today, it feels so good to just be home. I was gone Sunday and Monday nights for work, got home late Tuesday night, then was right back up in Salt Lake Wednesday night for my Surface Design group meeting. And Thursday nights I'm seeing a private client. Ugh, too many late nights away from home.

With no art to post, thought I could tempt you with some food. Before I really got into quilting, I spent lots of time cooking. Two of my kids are definitely 'foodies'- my oldest son is a fantastic chef, a fact his wife greatly appreciates, and Shannon seriously considered culinary arts school before deciding the profession was just too cutthroat for her temperament. And every once in awhile I enjoy getting creative in the kitchen.

I decided I felt like green chili. Usually the first place I'll hunt for a recipe is on the Food TV website, and there was one that sounded good- a four star from Bobby Flay. I got most of my grocery shopping done early today, and found everything I needed for this at Sunflower Market, a wonderful new addition here in Utah.

First, we have onions, green pepper, tomatillos, garlic, and a pasilla pepper roasting in the oven. Yum, the smells are wonderful!



While that's roasting, I brown the pork cubes-



Then it all goes together, with three cans of chicken broth, in the oven. Leave it and forget about it for a couple of hours- my kind of meal!



All I have left to do is adding the cilantro- can't have Mexican without it. Add warm tortillas, a salad, and we are good to go on a cool autumn evening.

I've also been spending time with this eye candy-



The Master's: Art Quilts has great profiles of the work of forty artists- some I was familiar with, some not. Katie PM's latest book has some good design exercises in it, and two of our WAQ group have quilts pictured in it. My mind is already thinking of things I could do with some of the photos I took when I was in Reno earlier this fall.

Thanks for all the nice comments on the Autumn Mountain quilt. I hadn't thought about Paducah, but if I manage to get the quilting right, and it's done on time, I may consider that. Otherwise, it will be ready for a gallery show my Surface Design group is having in Salt Lake, starting in May.

I'm taking an extra day off for the Thanksgiving holiday, hoping to get some dyeing done. I got two dozen scarves from Dharma, and want to do some for Christmas presents. Probably not til Friday, since I'm cooking Thursday.

Here's hoping your weekend is a productive one!

WAQ, and a Quiet Weekend

Our WAQ group met on Friday, and learned several ways to construct a pictorial quilt. I did Sharon Schamber's Piecelique, Suzanne did her take on Katie Pasquini's method, and Robyn did Ruth McDowell. It was interesting comparing the various methods- by the end, we agreed that which method you use is dependent on the effect you want to achieve. And, like anything, each has their upside and downside. But it did inspire me to develop a table comparing the methods, the tools needed, and the resources available to learn each. I'm also adding some we didn't discuss- Judy Dales' method of curved piecing, and Barbara Olsen's 'air applique.' I figure it can be a quick way to compare methods when I'm trying to determine how to move from the idea to fiber reality.

Remember this piece?



Ignore all the periphery- my design wall is packed, and this quilt is large enough that it's hard to get a picture without the distractions.

The tree and quilt are now one- I free motioned the tree on yesterday morning. Cumbersome, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I have a nonwoven stabilizer on the back- don't think the quilt would have held up under the weight of the tree without it. Two steps left, make a lot of leaves (some double sided), and quilt the piece. Some of the leaves will go on before I quilt, but a lot will be applied afterwards- I'm going for a 3D effect. I'm going to try to quilt lines that look like wind- I've done some drawings, and think I can pull that off.

I won't be getting to it until next weekend, however- I'm in Salt Lake Monday and Tuesday for work, the large surface design group meets Wednesday night. And, I'm anxiously awaiting two parcels- one from Amazon with Katie Pasquini's new design book, and another from Dharma, which is mostly scarves,T-shirts, and yarn. I'm hoping to dye some gifts for Christmas, and get a knitting project underway. So I'm sure the books will prove a distraction for a bit!

Sketchbooking with WAQ

We met at Sydney's home today, and she was all set up for us to experiment with sketchbooking as described by Linda and Laura Kemshall, both in their book and on one of their segments on Quilting Arts TV.

We'd watched a DVD at Kathleen's earlier this year with Beaney and Littlejohn, where one of them described making sketchbooks from large atlases or other books you can get cheap at second hand stores, then gluing 3-4 pages together and gessoing them. The effect was neat. Sydney had already found a cool atlas, and started gluing pages together- not a quick process, from her experience. She'd also found some smaller board books for toddlers. We sanded them and gessoed the pages- speeding the process up with a hair dryer. No need to glue pages together with a board book!

Laura Kemshall showed how to do monoprints in a sketchbook using transparencies and acrylic paint. I tried it, and loved the effect. The gesso gives wonderful texture.



After monoprinting with red paint, I stamped it with the black. Then I used the transparency with the black paint on it to monoprint the page on the left.



Up close, you can see the delicious texture from the gesso.



There were other ideas, some using printed pictures. I think I am going to try printing out a photo I've taken using my laser printer,then adding color with paints, crayons, or Shiva paintstiks. And, I had an 'aha' moment. I have put off buying acrylic paints due to the expense. I just couldn't justify it when I knew I would only use them for sketchbooks, I will never be a painter like Ms. Mel. And I don't want to use my fabric paint on paper. Sydney, however, had acrylic craft paint that I used- stuff that is inexpensive, and available at Michael's. A solution I can live with! So the only thing I will have to get in the ART store is the gesso!

I have a goal this weekend- to get one of my sunflower batik panels quilted and beaded. Our big surface design group meets next week, and I'd like to have one ready to show the group. We'll see if I'm successful, I'm beginning to learn that I spend more time worrying about the quilting than it actually takes me.

WAQ-y Friday

Friday my small art group met down in my neck of the woods. I did a brief demo of how I'm constructing my own stretcher frames, then we went to the Springville Art Museum quilt show, an annual event sponsored by the Utah Valley Quilt Guild.

Utah is known for its conservative politics, and Utah county, where I live, is one of the most conservative urban areas in the state. That also applies to quilts; when we moved here, I didn't even bother to check out the guilds, I knew I wouldn't fit. And that conservatism is reflected in this show. The vast majority are traditional; some very well executed, some not so. There were three Dear Jane quilts exhibited, all of them included nine patch blocks made with inch squares. That's one inch BEFORE piecing! I got a headache just thinking about it.

Photography was allowed, but there were very few that moved me to want to take a picture. One of our members had, Jalaine, two pieces exhibited, and they definitely stood out. I love the colors in this one, makes me think of Cinco de Mayo.



The second has neat contrast between sparkle and subdued. I thought the red backdrop set it off well.



Of all the traditional ones, this is the only one that appealed to me. I like the shape and the colors.



My friend Sandra Starley from Moab has two small pieces; you can see them here.

This quilt of aspens was interesting, and probably the least traditional one to get a ribbon.



Hands down, the most magnificent quilt there was this one of a moth. The detail was astounding, her use of fabric and stitching to create the wing patterns was amazing.




Seeing the show provoked a lot of discussion over lunch on quilt shows versus art shows, and how we can best get our work out there. Don't think we came to any consensus, which probably about describes the lack of consensus in the fiber art world!

Three-Day Weekend Doings!!

It was a nice weekend, made even better by the lovely weather. It is finally starting to seem like summer- warm weather and sunshine. All the green we have is balm for my eyes, I never tire of looking at all the wonderful shades and variations of that color. It's no accident that green is a large portion of my fabric stash!

Friday I got together with my small group, the Wasatch Art Quilters. We just had a nice, relaxing workday. I started on a thread embroidery with water soluble stabilizer, Sidney played with Shiva paintstiks, Jalaine and Kathleen worked on projects, and Suzanne has a piece on the design wall. We encourage, critique, laugh, and just enjoy being with others who share the same passion. Here's three of the group, playing or working away--



Saturday night DJ and I went to a concert here in Spanish Fork- classic country. Here is an example of the cultural divide that exists between us at times. I grew up in southern California, and listened almost exclusively to rock and roll. I loved the Beatles and all the others that performed in the sixties and early seventies. Country? I'm not even sure I knew it existed, and would have blown it off as music for hicks.

He, on the other hand, grew up in Utah, and listened to country a LOT. He didn't like most of the rock and roll then, and still doesn't now. Tanya Tucker has been the love of his life for years and years.

Clearly, we come from two very different musical paradigms. My musical world has expanded greatly since my teen years, but I've only had occasional flirtations with country, none that lasted any length of time. He has remained a steadfast fan of the country music from the 60's, 70's, and maybe 80's. So when the classic country radio station puts together a show of performers from that era, he's there. Me, I'm along for the ride.

This year we had six or seven different singers. One has been around so long, he talked about performing at a dance at BYU in Provo in 1954!!!! I'd never heard of any of them, except for one who was at the concert last year.

One really caught my eye, however. He definitely did NOT look like your typical country singer, more reminded me of Doc from the Back to the Future movies. And he could sing!! Click on the picture, you'll see what I mean--



I think his name is T. Graham Brown. DJ knew him, he's done some duets with his beloved Tanya. His singing has a rough edge to it that I like, not a smooth crooner. All in all, it was a nice evening of music under the stars and moon.

And I'll end this with a family pet picture. Annabelle is our cat, who can be alternately psychocat running around the house, and lovey-dovey sit in your lap cat. She also has a fondness for strange sleeping surfaces, including human.



I couldn't resist snapping this picture of Ana sleeping on Shannon, happily perched on her side. Can't speak to how comfortable Shannon finds it!

I'll be working on the threadwork embroidery more this week. Hope yours is creative and productive also!

Blaaahh!!

Which is about how I have been feeling today- not sick, just incapable for some reason of focusing on anything fiber-related for any length of time. I've cleaned the entire house, got the laundry done and folded, and have some stuff set aside waiting for Freecycle recipients to pick them up. So I have accomplished something today--

Yesterday, my small quilt crit group met at Sidney's home. She was able to get three Babylock embellishers for us to try, and another member, Kathleen, brought her Janome embellisher. There was wool felt, wool and silk fibers, all kinds of yarns for us to sample with the machine. Robyn, who has a very large collection of fibers and yarns, made this piece-



She used wool felt for a base, and needle felted silk organza and silk fibers,along with different yarns, to get this impromptu design. I like her color choices!

Here's a shot with more of the group. Sidney's husband is a firefighter, and he collects memorabilia related to gas stations. You can't see them in the photo, but they have four antique gas pumps in their family room! The neon sign is from the old Murray fire station. In back, he has a huge work space, with more antiques.



It was a fun day, the group seems to be "melding". We finally have come up with a name, the Wasatch Art Quilters. I hope that the chemistry continues, and that we are able to reach some of the goals we've talked about- like get a show in a gallery.

I have played around more with the TIF design on the computer. The concept has evolved- while I am still not making about any one particular person I admire, the focus has narrowed some. I'm doing some discharge samples, since I know I want to use that process. I tried two blacks,with unsuitable results. So now I'm waiting to see what a dark brown hand-dye I did looks like. I'm also considering using discharge paste, but from the recent posts on the Complex Cloth list, would need to make sure to do it outside. I don't have a respirator, and the one time I used the stuff, I remember it stank to high heaven.

Maybe I will actually get motivated enough to stitch tomorrow, since I want to discharge after I quilt. This idea is moving along, albeit VERY slowly.