Music, and then some--

It has been a full weekend. I spent most of yesterday morning working on my journal quilt- so no pictures. But, I have gotten pretty good at solvent transfers.

Then yesterday afternoon DJ and I went to Genola Jam. Genola is a small farming town a few miles southwest of us, and every summer for the past few years they have had an outdoor concert of old-time, classic country singers- DJ's favorite kind of music. It was 100 degrees, we were out in the sun from 2 pm on in a field- but we had good seats, the bring your own type.

I wasn't real familiar with the singers, since I am an unrepentant rock and roller (with some other eclectic tastes in music). But, we saw Janie Fricke, TJ Shepherd, John Conlee, and my favorite, Sylvia. I'd never heard of her, I did not recognize any of her music, but I loved her voice. Apparently she toured in the 1980's, now she does the occasional CD, but works as a life coach for aspiring musicians. Her voice is clear, her music reminded me some of Joni Mitchell- she even did one of her early songs. We bought her CD, and DJ, who actually saw her when she was touring, got his picture taken with her. Clearly, she came of better in this shot, hard to make it look good with a table between the two!



Today we had a picnic in a Provo park with Lance, Tiff, and the kids. Not nearly as hot today, and we've had a nice breeze.



I do have one quilty bit to post- I got my Art Share Meme piece a week or so ago from Ferrett, and I am thrilled. Loved being able to see her marvelous quilting up close and personal.



Here's a closeup of the quilting--


Next is to figure a good hanging system so I can have it up in my studio--

One last exciting piece of news. I will be flying to Tampa on June 26 for a week. I'll be staying with Sean and Marly, but also interviewing for a possible job. I will be counting the days down, and have loads to post about.

Flowers, and then some. . .

I was fortunate to be able to attend a two day workshop in Salt Lake on Expressive Arts in Psychotherapy. I'm clinically licensed, so I can do independent practice, but I haven't. Up until a year or so ago, my administrative jobs kept me too busy and tired to even want to think about doing more. And, during my time in social work, I've become increasingly disenchanted with talk therapy- I doubt if it does much good most of the time.

But art with therapy, now that's a different story. I know what my art meant to me that transitional year from the fall of 2004 until probably the end of 2005. I know what it continues to mean, so the idea of private practice incorporating art is intriguing. And I learned lots here to put to use. We played with paints, did a mask-- it was all wonderful. I got some resources to follow up on, and a connection for when I'm ready to get serious.

Tuesday night I was able to go to Red Butte Gardens, which is up above the University of Utah. While I mostly missed the spring bulb spectacular, there is still plenty there. I got loads of flower pictures. It also pointed up something I've known for awhile- that desert flowers, with the possible exception of cactus flowers, aren't that big. I know it has a lot to do with the scarcity of water- but if you are into re-creating flowers in fabric, it's not easy to do when the flowers are smaller than your fingernail. Witness these--


Or these--

Beautiful, but hard to do except in an impressionistic kind of way.

The gardens are large, and you can get quite a walk in. This pond is in an Oriental themed area--

It was full of koi, happily swimming with the ducks.

This one just fascinated me- a rose grown not for its flowers, but for the thorns. I think it is called a red wing thorned rose.


As I was leaving, I saw these gloriously colored coleus- at least, that's what I think they are. There are signs posted, but not on every planting bed- so sometimes I had to guess.

This weekend, I got Marly's birthday present done. It's a larger version of the bird of paradise that I did on the postcards. I was told by both Sean and Shannon that the background should be yellow, so that's what I ran with; it's one of the yellow hand-dyes I did last weekend. It is done, mounted on foam core, and ready to mail. I'll also order a shadowbox frame for it. My thanks to Pat Dolan, who posted on her blog how she mounts fabric pieces to foam core and then frames them. She even mentioned the Dakota frames, which I was able to find with Google. Anyway, here's the finished product. I drew outlines of bird of paradise leaves and used those for my quilting designs.

Now I can get back to my journal quilt.
Enough for now, need to figure out what last minute chores should get done before the work week starts again.

A Summer Dyefest

I don't completely stop dyeing fabric during the winter, but I'd forgotten how much fun it is when you can set your pots and containers out in the sun, and watch them bake!! I started off dyeing a length of pima cotton to make a shirt for me, and then I had leftover dye concentrates- I couldn't let them go to waste, now, could I??

I posted a few weeks ago on the dyer's list, asking about the difference in results when you soda soak the fabric, versus adding the soda ash during the process. I got some good answers, the best being from Cynthia St. Charles. I decided to do all this fabric by adding the soda ash during the process, and used "recipes" from Ann Johnston's Color by Accident book. I did two value parfaits, and one color parfait. I love the results. You still get the crystalline mottling, but it is softer, more subtle. Almost every piece had some luminous sparkles in places. It was also a lesson in how fast the fuschia dye strikes, when compared to other colors.

Here is a violet value parfait--

In fact, only the dark piece, the one that goes into the dyepot first, is violet- the lighter values are blue. Just waiting 15-20 minutes to add the second fabric piece, and then another 15-20 minutes before adding the third, makes the difference. All the fuschia dye has bonded with the first fabric, but there is still blue left to dye the other pieces.

The same thing happened with this orange value parfait--


And here's a closer look at some of the pieces--




Some days I think I like the fabric dyeing more than the sewing and quilting part- it is just magical.

Shannon now has her Swiss visa, and is packed and ready to leave Monday morning. She will arrive in Zurich Tuesday morning their time, but ready for bed I am sure her time! She will be spending part of the summer in Barcelona and on the Costa Brava, and biking along the Danube in Germany. Everyone in the family is both happy for her and jealous!!

Out in the Great Outdoors

OK, I promised pictures from the hike Sadie and I took yesterday. We also spent the better part of today "en pleine aire"- Lance, Tiff, Jaden, DJ and I did a picnic up at Payson Lakes, and then a couple of hours fishing.

But, back to yesterday. I discovered this trail when Shannon and I walked here awhile back. I finally had enough time and energy yesterday to give it a go. It starts off cutting through some private land, then heads uphill pretty steeply into the Mt. Loafer Wildlife Management Area. I have no idea how much further the trail goes, my legs wouldn't even make it all the way to the top.

Here's a view looking south about halfway up--


And here's the view looking north. I took this from the highest point we hiked to. Even Sadie was ready to call it quits!


Beautiful, no? I always try to soak in and appreciate the green when we have it here. Trust me, by July much of the green will be brown, especially the grasses. I also got some pictures of wildflowers- but I'm saving those for another post.

Payson Lakes is up Payson Canyon, and it is quite a climb- we were up above 7000 feet. It was green, pleasantly breezy and just cool enough to warrant a windbreaker. Sadie and I managed a short hike around the small lake. Here's a view from one end-

We encountered this twisted quakie on the walk- the shape just fascinated me. Then I started looked around, and a lot of the aspens had twisted or curved trunks. Apparently the snowfall is heavy enough up here that it bends them!

And here's the great fisherman, pole in hand-- unfortunately, even though we could see fish jumping in the lake, Lance got nothing but some nibbles. Of course, Jaden throwing rocks in the water, talking and singing at high volume wouldn't have anything to do with the fish being shy, would it??

There's even a little quilty contect from today! I did some playing with my study piece for my journal quilt. I'm trying to decide if the pictures should be grayscale, or sepia toned. So I printed out some of each, and pinned them on the base. Here's the grayscale-

And here's the sepia-

I was convinced the sepia would be better- but now I'm not so sure. And, I also learned that I will have to pay close attention to the scale of the photos I use in the final piece. These are too small- so I'm glad I only did this with paper, not fabric. I have never had the patience for study pieces in the past, but I'm learning that it can be a valuable use of time, and prevent mess-ups. I may even have to get more serious about using sketchbooks!

Back home!

It is good to be home, five days on the road working ten and twelve hour days gets old quickly. And no, I didn't hit any quilty-type stores in St. George, although I did do a bit of clothes shopping.

I have less than a month until Marly's birthday, so I started on her present- I decided some time ago what I'm doing. The coloring is done, now on to thread painting. I picked up some Totally Stable yesterday, we'll see how I like it.

Sadie and I went for a hike today, up a trail I discovered a month or so ago. She came back tired, and I can feel it in my legs. The knee I hurt several years ago also lets me know when I overdo it- and I'm feeling it today. I got some pictures of wildflowers- but I'm too tired to download them onto the computer- so maybe tomorrow.

Not much else- maybe more quilty content later in the week. Right now I'm off to bed.

It's So Quiet!

We are officially empty nesters. Shannon and I spent most of yesterday finishing her packing and running last minute errands. Knowing that we had to be up in the middle of the night to get her to Salt Lake by 5:30 am, we both fell into bed early. The early morning run to the airport went off without a hitch, she got through check-in and security very quickly, and before we knew it is was time to leave her.
Here we are, a last portrait together at the airport--

She is not a morning person, so I don't think it has hit her yet that her life is taking off in an entirely new direction. She's exactly the same age I was when I left college for a year to bum around Europe, and it was certainly a life-changing experience for me.
She got through security so quickly, we didn't even have parking charges. When we left to head back to the car, we could see her down below waiting to go through the final security check. I just can't believe it's been more than nineteen years since I first held her in my arms.

We came back to a house that feels different, somehow. I spent the rest of the morning ironing clothes so I can pack for a week-long business trip. I leave this afternoon, too- so DJ, Sadie, and Annabelle will have the house to themselves.
I do have some quilty stuff to post. I finished my last four postcards on Friday, and even got them mailed off. This bunch started with a piece of fabric I dye painted last winter. As soon as she saw the finished piece, Shannon said "Ladybugs!" So that's what I did. I added the black with my Caran d"Ache water soluble wax pastels, and a little bit of thread painting. I used Superior Glitter thread to quilt in the background. This was a fun group of cards! Here's my favorite--

And here's a shot of all the cards. Yes, there's an extra, I actually ended up making five.

The bottom one is upsidedown- the sun is supposed to be in the upper corner, not the bottom!

I will be without computer access for a week, I don't get back from Richfield and St. George until late Friday afternoon. Thank goodness next weekend is a holiday.

Safe and pleasant journeys, Shannon. We love you and will miss you-

Heading down the homestretch

until Shannon leaves for Florida, and then Switzerland. We have been figuring out what clothes she will need, how to pack, how much weight she's allowed without an outrageous excess baggage charge. There have been some hiccups on her visa, and we are still waiting to hear if she can pick it up via mail, or if she will have to present herself in person in Atlanta. If the latter is true, then she'll probably have to fly there from Tampa and then back. We've set up a blog for her, and she'll be taking her laptop with. Hopefully she will post regularly, I think it will be a wonderful way to keep up with her adventures in a new country. Her blog is http://www.salaine.blogspot.com/ if you'd like to take a look.

I have been doing a study piece for my journal quilt- the first time I've done this. I've tried out the unfamiliar processes I'm planning to use, trying to see how it all comes together visually. I already know somethings I will do differently when I start on the actual piece. It has been fun playing with text transfer, and my new metallic Shiva paintsticks!

To all you mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day. We're headed to Lance's home for breakfast, then to church. It's a double celebration today, it's also DJ's birthday. Hopefully I'll have some time to relax and play later- I've got my last five postcards for my Art2Mail group waiting to be finished. It would also be nice to get our and walk the dogs when it has cooled down some. Although it hasn't felt like it to me, we have had gloriously sunny weather with temperatures in the 90's. I think we have past the heating season, and are right into air conditioning!

Spring Market Photos

OK, I promised photos of the quilt exhibit at Sping Market. Here are the ones that caught my eye. I've seen many of these published in magazines, so you probably have too- but it was a treat to be able to see them in person and up close. From the selection, you can tell that I am drawn to bright, strong colors. I haven't distinguished which quilts were in what exhibit- there were three total, I think.


A Sunny Day in April by Emily Parson


Heartburst by Rachel Wetzler


Gulls in the Heat Haze by Inge Mardal and Steen Hougs
Amazing detail and realism!


Opportunity Knocks by Laura Wasilowski. If my memory is accurate, this is a quilt she did on a Simply Quilts episode.


Nine to the Ninth Power by Scott Murkin. This quilt was amazing- from a distance, the colors just glowed. Up close, the piecing was tiny and mind-boggling!


Sunflowers, by Beth Miller. She had some great dimension in the sunflowers, with knots and fringe that you really can't see in this photo.


Paeonia Mascula by Amira Wishinsky

That's all for now, I do have a few more but it's time for me to hit the road for the day.

WHEW!!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks since I last posted. I have been busy- Shannon leaves in two weeks for at least a year. She'll fly to Florida and spend a week or so with her brother and sister-in-law, then on to Switzerland. She will be living in a village about 40 kilometers outside Zurich, working as an au pair for a family with three girls. I think it will be a fabulous time for her, a maturing experience and a chance to live in another culture. So, we have been learning about dual voltage hair appliances, figuring out clothing needs, putting her car up for sale- the list goes on. Funny to think that we will shortly be empty nesters!

I have been working on my journal quilt, but can't post photos. I'll have to get my May Art2Mail cards done soon, so at least I'll have those to post!

But, best of all was this weekend. I was able to work at Spring Market put on by Quilts Inc.- the spring version of the big market that goes on every year just before the International Quilt Festival in Houston. I worked Friday with Suzanne Hyland at her booth, then was able to walk the entire floor today. I've sampled frames for machine quilting, got some great thread samples, got some rubbing plates to use with Shiva paintsticks- and my legs are done for! Friday I stood most of the day, and talked tons- we were busy almost all day. Top that with a second day of walking, walking, walking- I'm feeling it!

They also had some great quilt exhibits, and some fantastic wearable art from past Bernina shows. I was able to get some pictures, but I'm too tired to download them from the camera tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning--

I'll probably go to church with Shannon tomorrow, then head back up to Salt Lake. I'm hoping to collect a few more goodies just before the show closes, then help Suzanne tear down her booth. I know this is small compared to Houston, but for Salt Lake it felt HUGE!! The HMQS show we had a couple of weeks ago had maybe 4-5 rows of vendors. This show had 29 rows of booths!! Quilters heaven!

An education!!

I spent the entire day Tuesday at the Home Machine Quilting Show in Salt Lake- scribing for a judge at least half the day. It's certainly given me a new perspective about the ongoing discussion on the QA list about "quilt" shows vs. "art" shows. For the most part, I think the judges on this one were open to more "art" quilts- although, this being Utah, I can't say I saw anything that really pushed the envelope. But most of the discussion was about bindings, quality of quilting, piecing and applique. Probably the most disappointing part for me was how every quilt I saw judged was given positive feedback for "Visual Impact and Use of Color" and . Sorry, I just couldn't agree that every quilt made a strong visual statement- and when everyone got that, it just made it meaningless for those that were visually strong pieces.

This show is judged, but not juried- and that was also obvious from the quilts, which ranged from superb, both from the quilt and artistic perspective, to amateurish. I took some pictures of the ones that struck me. I'm posting those for which I have the name of the artist.

What lessons did I learn? No stitch in the ditch, unless you can do it superbly, and work to get better control of my quilting. The manatee quilt didn't get a ribbon, but it did get some nice feedback from the judge. So I'm happy.

Best of Show went to Renae Haddadin, who was also a finalist in the most recent $100,00 Quilting Challenge. Her quilt was two-sided, and pretty amazing.



And the other side- -



Renae also had a smaller piece, which I found equally beautiful.

Her quilting is amazing---



Jessica Schick has taught here every year since the show started. This piece is airbrushed with Procion dyes, and heavily quilted.

Suzanne Hyland is here in Salt Lake, and belongs to the Surface Design and Art Quilt
groups. Having had the opportunity to see her work up close, I can say it is striking and beautifully made. If my quilting has gone up a notch this year, it is because of what I've learned from her. She designed this piece at Asilomar, at a workshop with Katy Pasquini Masopust.



I think this is a gorgeous example of taking a very traditional, simple design, and making it something special with metallic thread and over the top quilting.



Enough for now- but, I've got some hand-dyes in the washer, I'll post those results tonight or tomorrow.

I've been working on something. . .

but no pictures, for a couple of reasons. First, it's my 2007 Journal Quilt, which can't be displayed online until the show is up in Houston next fall. Second, most of the work has happened on the computer and in my head. I've had an idea, it's been tweaked and revised, but I think it will come together. Very different from the last two years' Journal Quilts.

It was also another excuse to spend more time in the Journal Quilt book, since I have to reference the techniques I'm using. I think I came up with five different ones, so no problem there.

Tomorrow I'm volunteering at the Home Machine Quilting Show in Salt Lake. The show doesn't open until Thursday, but the judging is tomorrow. I'm helping them, I think as a scribe. My hope is to learn about the judging process, and what they look for. I know that there will be individual idiosyncrasies, but I still think it will be an opportunity to learn. I go back on Friday for a short volunteer stint, and hopefully to try out every frame system there. I am really hoping to get a frame system this year- I'll start out with my Juki on it, then hopefully upgrade to an 18" throat machine down the road. I am making a solemn vow to not buy any fabric- don't need to add to the collection I'll be packing up sometime soon! Maybe thread- but mostly I want to sample frames and machines.

I got a new toy from my brother, a 5 megapixel Canon camera. Had to download the manual, but I'm slowly getting to know it. I'll try to post pictures from the show.

Other news- I may be traveling to Tampa in the near future for a job interview. Nuff said, don't want to jinx anything!!

Happy Easter!

I've almost got the last three Bird of Paradise cards done. The thread painting is complete, I've auditioned quilting patterns, and hopefully will get them quilted and done tomorrow night. Since we are having a group of realtors tour our home Thursday morning, I'd like to have time to clean the studio! But I'm pleased with how they are coming out, and feel I've learned something by doing this series.

I've also been thinking about the last journal quilt. I'd like to get it mostly done before we have to pack and move, and have a pretty good idea of what I want to do. It's totally different than past journal quilts- no flower or nature imagery. And, it should stretch me- but that's what the project is all about, no??

We spend a nice Easter weekend with the grandchildren. Saturday we colored eggs. I saw this idea on Gerrie Congdon's blog, and had to try it (even if it did come from Martha Stewart!) After a trip to DI (Utah's version of Goodwill), we came home with a bag of silk ties. I dismantled the ties, and ran them through the wash. Hint- if you do this, make sure you put the ties in one of those mesh laundry bags. When mine were done, they were a knotted mess, and had managed to wind around the washer agitator post. Took me fifteen minutes to unknot the mess and get them out!

You wrap pieces of the silk ties around the eggs, then wrap that with muslin or other cheap cotton. Wrap the cloth with rubber bands or twist-ties to hold the fabric close to the egg. Put in a pan, cover them with water, then add 3-4 tablespoons of white vinegar. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for at least 20 minutes. Drain the eggs- but don't rinse them. Let them cool, then remove the fabric. The result- cool patterned eggs! Most of ours weren't as bright as I'd have liked, but I think that was at least partly because I did rinse them. The kids thought it was neat, and we had fun doing it! Here's the results--


The black, white and red ones were our attempts to get Mickey Mouse onto eggs- mostly unsuccessfully. These two are my favorites--



On a last quilty note- the only big quilt show Utah has is in two weeks, and at the last minute I decided to enter the manatee quilt. Remember this one?



And, since I'm one of the volunteers that will be helping the judges prior to the show opening, I hope to learn something about how my work stacks up. Should be interesting! I'm also going to be test driving every mid-arm machine and frame there, in the hopes I can get at least a frame this year. Regardless of where we end up living, I will have room for my quilting!!

WOW!!

One day after my cataract surgery, and I am both amazed and grateful to be living in a time where such technology exists. The surgery went off without a hitch, despite the fact that I wasn't nearly as sedated (read, loopy) as I'd hoped and expected. If they gave me a sedative, I didn't much feel it. I'm pretty good at focusing and holding still when I need to- and all those skills were put to use yesterday. I head every word spoken in the operating room, heard the music and was tapping my fingers to it part of the time, and got a very interesting light show during the surgery. I was working hard to remember the colors and images- figured there had to be a quilt in it!!

But the best part- my extremely nearsighted left eye now has better vision than my right! My brain is still trying to figure out how to "blend" the vision from the two eyes, but it is pretty evident even this early that I will be seeing much better. Until the vision stabilizes, I'll be wearing older glasses with the left lens popped out. Looks weird, but it works!!

Just to be sure, I'm taking the week off from work. My vision may be funky at this point, but I was still able to color and wet another three bird of paradise postcards. This has been a real exercise in problem-solving. I've worked on what background looks best, how to blend colors in the images, what order to wet the colors to get the effects I want. Once the postcards are done, I'll take all that learning and do a journal-quilt size piece for my daughter-in-law's birthday this summer. She loves flowers, and I think she will like this.

Anyway, here's what the images look like after I color the fabric with the watersoluble wax pastels. I'm using pima cotton, which has a high thread count and smooth surface.



I don't wet the image all at once- I do the flower first, let it dry, and then wet the background. This seems to give me more control over the image lines. They bleed some, but not a lot. Here's some with the flower wet, but dry background.



Here's some after I've wet the entire surface, but before I begin threadpainting on the flower.



And, finally, here are some completed cards. I much prefer the lighter background to the dark ones I did on my first three cards. I did hand-stitching on these; the last bunch will have machine quilting on the background, with monofilament thread. I also found I'm less happy with the background quilting that competes with the central image- hence my decision to use monofilament on the last group.



I always seem to gravitate to flowers when spring hits. I love the colors, especially after our drab Utah winters. Since the bird of paradise is a tropical flower, I'll only see it potted indoors- but it's lovely nonetheless. And, I know Marly will like the bright colors.

If you have a yen to try these wonderful crayons, they are available at Dick Blick online. And, to see the different effects you can get with them, Holly Knott did a wonderful article in the Summer 2005 issue of Quilting Arts magazine.

Comments and critiques welcome!

Spring Fever!!

We have had a stretch of glorious weather- in the low 70's, sunny- the kind of weather that makes even adults want to play hooky, especially when we're all glad to see the end of winter.

Shannon and I took Sadie and Dieter for a hike up Spanish Fork Canyon- not as picturesque as Provo Canyon, but closer to home. We got both dogs worn out pretty quickly- Sadie from chasing her ball, and Dieter from chasing Sadie. Since I had someone else to man the camera, here I am with the dogs for a change!



I couldn't resist taking a picture of this disintegrating sandstone- makes it very easy to see how it got its name. Lovely layers and texture--



Our view off to the side looking up the mountains was beautiful. The grass is starting to show, and some of the sage is greening up.



Off on the river side was a very old car graveyard. I didn't go exploring this time, but made a mental note in case I ever want to try rust dyeing- lots of rusty metal down there!



I've also been creating this weekend. I decided to get out my Caran d'Ache neocolor water soluble wax pastels. I want to create a flower quilt for my daughter-in-law, and at least one flower on it will be the bird of paradise. Don't have any easily accessible here to look at (although I have ordered one from a nursery), but I downloaded some pictures from the web, and used them as a basis for drawings. I chose two, and then did some cropped closeups as postcards. Here's the results of the first three:



I learned what gives the best results with the wax pastels, and was very happy with all the flowers. I'm not so happy with all the background quilting I did- the thread is too dark on one, and I think detracts from the flower. So, next time I'll use monofilament for the background. And, I think I'll try my Tsukineko inks to see how they compare with the wax pastels. I should be able to complete three more this week, so I'll have my April Art2Mail cards done before my eye surgery April 3. Not Lasix, but cataract surgery-

All in all, a nice weekend. Too bad it's supposed to snow here on Wednesday!!

Well, I tried

to get this posted earlier in the week- but "new" Blogger wouldn't cooperate, I couldn't even sign in. Tried to comment on a couple of blogs, and couldn't do that either. Here's hoping the issues are taken care of and I get my pictures posted without problems.

I've finished and sent off my third group of postcards. I had no brilliant ideas for this month- I ended up choosing some of my hand-dyes, and going from there. I've noticed that when I'm feeling uninspired, I end up with something simple- no bling, nothing but beautiful fabric and thread. I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't my "voice" trying to assert herself. . .

Anyway, I chose these because the colors reminded me of what we see here this time of year- the brown of winter, but sparks of green beginning to show. I was simply playing with line and shape, seeing what developed. I quite like working in these small series- none are identical, but they have similarities. I also tried quilting with polyester monofilament thread, something I don't use often. I hope the recipients are happy with their cards!