Three Years

Yes, it is my three year blogiversary, or whatever the correct word is. I had not a clue when I started where this would lead, or if it would stick- but it's hard to imagine life without blogging now. I've gotten to "know" some wonderful artists out there thanks to blogging, and gotten feedback on the work I've posted. So, it would appear that y'all are stuck with me, since I've no intention of stopping now!

I've spent this afternoon making more leaves, from a different hand dye that has more color variations. I took it to WAQ yesterday, and Suzanne thought it would benefit from more orange. It got that, and then some. The first layer of leaves has been sewn on, and I've got the second layer pinned. I think I'm going to move some from directly under the tree, to more off to the left on the bottom. What do you think? Do I need more leaves, or can I call it done? I'll leave it up onthe design wall and keep looking.



And, I'm questioning where it should be shown. To me, it reads more as quilt than art- so maybe the gallery show isn't the best place for it. We have HMQS in May in Salt Lake, or I could maybe enter it into the Nashville AQS show. Again, I'm undecided.

I am ready to be done with this one. It has taken such a long time , and my style has moved away from blocks since then. I've about decided to gift the last set of blocks I have in this pattern!

My brain is already thinking about the challenge with WAQ. I've been trying to figure out how I want to interpret 'passages'- even reading some poetry, hoping something will grab me. The lyrics for the Al Stewart song 'Time Passages' keeps coming to mind.

That's it for now, dinner is about ready. Hope your weekend is a good one!

Encore

Amazingly enought, I have spent time the last three nights in the studio- after ten hour workdays. I am hard at work, making leaves so I can start sewing them on the quilt. Here's my progress so far--



Initially, I thought I would fuse the bottom layer of leaves to the quilt, then just sew the topmost layer. So, I made my first batch with fabric that was fused to Wonder Under. When I started playing with them on the quilt, it became obvious that the dimension I'm after would be lost if I fused the leaves. So I needed to revise my plans, and here's the process I've come up with.

I made scans of actual leaves a few years ago. I played with the image- made it smaller, and distored some of them. Then I printed it on my laser printer.



Then I cut out the leaf section, leaving a stencil. (Look close, that's my rotary mat under the paper.)



Then I trace the leaf image onto freezer paper, getting as many on as possible on the sheet..



I then cut out the leaves, and iron then onto double-sided fabric- two pieces that have been fused together.



That's as far as I got tonight, one leaf. It takes A LOT of time to cut out all those leaves! Tomorrow I'll finish cutting them out, iron them on the fabric, and start stitching around the freezer paper. The leaf edges will be raw, but I wanted some edge stitching to prevent most raveling. And, I'm adding stitching where veins would be. Not a lot, but it does add to the effect. I'll stitch over one of those lines when I sew them onto the quilt.

Hopefully, I'll get some sewn on Friday morning. My WAQ group is meeting Friday afternoon, and I'd like to get their reaction.

And, after several days of lovely, early spring weather, it looks like winter is making another visit. We're supposed to be stormy Friday, then a large storm should roll in Sunday night and Monday, leaving us snow once again. Let's just hope it disappears as fast as the last dusting did!

Leaves- and lots of them!

I started working on the leaves for Autumn Mountains today. After a lot of thought, I made a bunch of freezer paper leaves, ironed them on my fabric, and stitched around the edge. After taking off the freezer paper (saved to make more leaves), I fused Wonder Under to the back, then cut out the leaves. Lots of leaves, and this is just the first bunch!

I had to see how they looked on the quilt, so I started sticking them on with pins. Wow! Amazing what they add!



And a closeup--



I'm going for the effect of leaves piling up around the tree, and falling off the branches. I've got more to cut from this fabric, then I'll make a bunch more from a couple of other fat quarters of my hand-dyes. It is so nice to see the vision I've had in my head come to life!

I've also been trying to finish this tee. The front and back are both screened, and I added some to a sleeve. Still trying to decide if I'll be symmetrical and add some to the other sleeve, or leave it asymmetrical. The sleeves need to be shortened a tad, but it's got the room I like. Can't stand clingy clothes!



I'll be taking this to California when I go the end of March- it will be interesting to see what my old high school friends have to say! Maybe I'll even get the short sleeve one dyed too.

It's getting late, I'm off to read for awhile. More leaf-making tomorrow!

Lazy Day

It has been a rather quiet Saturday- it's late afternoon, and I have the house to myself. Shannon is at her clinic, DJ, Lance and the kids have gone to the movies. I'm putting together a simple dinner, spaghetti and meatballs with salad and a freshly baked baguette. The meatballs are cooked, and the jars of sauce waiting to be opened. (No, I do not make spaghetti sauce from scratch!)

I've been screening on the back of the tee I dyed a few weeks ago, it should be ready to wear this week. I got the quilting done on the tree last night- with all the stitching and texture that tree already has, I was surprised at how the quilting further sculpted the surface. I'm still deciding how I'm going to finish off the side of the tree.

And I have started to think about the two challenges our WAQ group came up with, to be done by this fall. One is 5 X 7, mounted on an 8 X 10 painted canvas, using at least some red-violet and/or yellow green, with a theme of magnification. The other is 16 X 24, mine is oriented landscape, using at least some blue and/or orange. The theme is 'passages.'

I have been thinking about that a lot. The word has multiple meanings, which is one of the reasons we all liked it. There are the obvious ones, doorways, physical passages- but I may go with something different. Books have always been such a large part of my life- what about passages of books that have significant meaning for me? I'm still playing with that one in my head, but that's the direction I'm leaning towards now. The other meaning that I gravitated towards is passages of life. I have no doubt I could embellish on that one, since I'm past most of them!

The weather here is just starting to have the feel that spring is getting close. It is light later, and every once in awhile I catch a glimpse of green in a field. The air smells different. I'm finding clumps of Sadie's coat in the carpet, which means she is starting to shed. Maybe it is the ongoing euphoria from the election and inauguration, but I have a sense of hope, despite all the crappy news and the scary economy. So, in the spirit of hope springing eternal, and since I have no interesting photos of work in progress to share, here's a closeup of a tree outside our home. That looks like a bud, right??



And, it's also a success in my ongoing quest to master the manual settings of my camera! I've been trying to learn how to get a closeup image sharp, with a fuzzy background. Open the aperture! Use the macro setting! Maybe by the time I can afford to get a digital SLR, I'll have this all figured out!

Maybe the End is in Sight??

I'd have to look in the calendar books where I track my progress on fiber projects to find out how long ago I started this quilt. I'd bet money it was 2007 at least. But I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Today I got the facings completely sewn on. The quilt itself is slightly smaller than the tree- an effect I think I am liking. The top branches stick up above the quilt about 1/2", and the roots dip down below the bottom, The entire right edge also extends beyond the edge of the quilt.

I still have to add some quilting lines to the tree, and then the final push, the leaves. I did find Jeans Stitch in brown, so now it is just a matter of finding the energy and time.

Seen up on the design wall, finished edges make a world of difference. And, I can get a better handle on how the quilting will look when it is hung.



This quilt is large enough that I need to move the table in the wet studio to get an unobstructed photo. Not happening tonight!

We are bracing for another snow storm tomorrow, the same storm that has been hammering California. At least it has been warm enough the last couple of weeks that the snow melts off very quicky. No snow on our lawn, and the roads are clear of ice. Let's hope that trend continues!

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!

Art and Tee Shirts

Last weekend I dyed and overdyed a blank tee I got from Dharma. So far, I'm liking the colors I got- I was going for more pastel shades, which is a change for me. Last night I put on the first set of screenprinting on the front, then this morning I did the second. I'm using Tsukineko inks, thickened with Aloe Vera gel. It seems to work very well- a good thing, since I just wasn't feeling like mixing up dyes and sodium alginate.

The screen is one I did on a friend's Thermofax machine, of windows in an old industrial building here in Spanish. The first screen was done with a darker lilac shade, the second overlaps it and was done with a cool gray color. I rather like the effect I got.



Once I get this dried and heat set, then I'm adding another screen- handwriting from my great-grandmother's graduation essay. I love using that one! Then I have to decide if I want to do the same thing on the back.

I can't believe I forgot to blog about a trip I made to the art museum in Springville a couple of weeks ago. In January they had an exhibit of two women, Susan Madden and Joyce Marder. Susan is an art quilter, and Joyce a basket maker. I enjoyed that- the baskets were huge, and all done out of willow. Susan's fabrics pieces really evoke an sense of place here in Utah. But the best part for me was an exhibit of a Utah painter, Rob Colvin. He does landscapes that just knocked my socks off. Not realistic, more abstracted- but still identifiable. The exhibit was called 'Geometry of the Land', and that describes his paintings perfectly. And, it was so applicable to fiber! Take a look, you can find his work here.

I'm now off to the more mundane weekend tasks. If I'm lucky, I'll get the second sunflower sandwiched and ready to quilt.

Longarming

I spent several hours today at my friend Robyn's home, practicing using her HQ16 midarm. She and Suzanne, another friend, have been kind enough to volunteer their HQ16's for me to quilt Autumn Mountains on. Today, I practiced on 1 1/2 yards of cheap muslin. Next week, I'll be quilting on the real thing. Here's the entire piece- sorry for the lousy lighting.



I was surprised at the difference between the quilting at the top where I started, and how it looked at the bottom, where I ended. Here's the top-



And here's part of the bottom--



After one pass, I figured out (with Robyn's help) that I needed to enlarge the size of my motifs. When you're used to moving the paper(fabric) and not the pencil (machine), you don't generally do large sweeping motions! By the end, I was getting better at nesting my motifs in each other, and not having them in a line. It's not perfect, but I feel confident enough to start the real thing. Since I'm appliqueing leaves on after I quilt, I'm comforted by the thought that the viewer won't be able to see any large unbroken areas of quilting!

I also learned that this involves very different muscles, and my shoulders appreciated it. Once I figured out to stand up straight, it got easier. No stressed or strained shoulder muscles like I get when I free motion on the Juki. It took me about four hours to do this, and I felt more relaxed at the end. I have a ways to go to make all my curves consistently curvy, and getting my lines closer to each other. And, quilting all the way to the edge is HARD!! But, no way I could have done this much quilting on the Juki in four hours.

I'm so grateful to have friends who are so generous with their expertise- and, in this case- their awesome midarms. I'm actually beginning to believe that this quilt will get completed!

Winter Blahs

Winter in Utah county is often bleaghhh- not because of the cold, but because of the inversion. Add that to my preference, which would be do be done with winter right after New Year's, and it makes for about two months of feeling blah!!

So I struggle at time to keep a positive attitude as I wait out the season. Being outside is often not an option- pollution gets worse as the inversion sits over us. Even if it's not bad where we are, the sight of the brown gunk sitting over the rest of the county doesn't exactly inspire me to WANT to be outside.

So I got the grocery shopping done as early as I could this morning, and did some cleaning in the studio. Remember the felt I put up on one wall a few months ago? I decided that just having the felt hanging there was not working, so I yanked it down. I bought some smaller pieces of foam insulation at Home Depot, and covered them with felt I'd bought at Joann's half off. With a few pieces of sticky back velcro, they are now up on the wall- and it looks a whole lot better than it did!



That's all my postcards, and the journal quilts I decided were worthy of being displayed.



The triangle piece was a PIF from Ferret in Britain. Above that are my last journal quilt, and a piece I did at a workshop. I had one panel left over, so I put it to the left of my Bernina- another small design wall, easily accessible.

I also rearranged where I store some tools in the dye studio, so that area is more functional too.

Then I got busy and made a sleeve for Tsunami, and decided it needs more of the bigger seed beads.

Earlier this month my surface design group met, and in addition to our speaker, we had a stash exchange. We're doing a 'Hard Times' challenge, and hope to exhibit the results of the challenge at a gallery show in Provo next fall. I picked up a couple of remnants of hand dyed silk noil,



and a half completed piece that the maker had decided she didn't like. I love the colors, so decided it was worth a shot.



I've got it pinned up on my new small design wall, waiting to see what it says to me.

Yesterday when I went out to get the mail, I saw this ice 'sculpture' on top of the utilities box in our front yard. I've no idea how it formed, but I thought it looked cool.



I will be an indoor girl most of this week, the inversion is supposed to strengthen til next weekend. I guess I'm grateful I don't have asthma or another respiratory issue- don't know how folks that do deal with it.

No Visuals Today--

although I have been working on stuff. I've got a lot of beads on Tsunami, maybe 75% of what I want to do. No color, just clear beads in a couple of sizes to play with the light when the quilt is hung. I am liking the effect.

And, the sweater is almost done- I'll be sewing on the buttons tonight, and that's it. A good learning sweater- next time I will snug it in at the sides in addition to the four darts I did in the front and back. I already have the yarn for the next project.

It was an eventful week in many ways. I did come home for a couple of hours to watch Obama's swearing in and speech. I have been pleased with the vast majority of steps he's taken in his first week, and can't believe the difference in my attitude. No more snarls and swearing when the president is on TV or even mentioned. I will be praying for his safety, well-being, and wisdom, as well as the safety of his family. We so much need for him to succeed!!!

My surface design group met last Wednesday, and I took a bunch of stuff (including the dryer sheets) for our exchange table. I was very happy to see almost all of it taken. I came home with a smallish piece of hand dyed silk noil, and a half finished piece that the owner decided she didn't like. I did- especially the colors. I'll be putting both up on the design wall to let them talk to me for awhile. We're having another show at the Covey Center here in Provo, and want to have at least part of the show be the works created from this 'green' challenge. I think it will be fun!

And, we are back to winter here. Last week was unseasonably warm- more like March, except we also had the dreaded inversion. (Translation- it's no different that the southern California smog I grew up with, only in winter!) This weekend has bee rainy, then today it started turning over to snow. So our front yard, which had all the snow melted off, is white once again. And it's not the famed dry Utah powder, it is heavy, wet snow. Bleaghhh! The storminess is supposed to continue at least through tomorrow, then stay colder. Oh well, at least the storms blow the smog away.

Don't know how much creative stuff I will be doing this week. I have to get serious about getting taxes done. Since I am not that organized, it is a bit of a feat. Hope your week is more fun than that!

I Think I'm Human Again

The worst of the cold seems to be past me- I've not taken any OTC medicine today, and can actually breathe. And, I felt good enough to leave the house for the first time since last Wednesday. Had to hit Costco and Sunflower market, the kitchen was getting a bit bare.

I have done some playing today. I first read about painting dryer sheets on Katherine Sands' blog. The idea intrigued me, so I started saving them, and even got the rest of the family trained to save them too. I now have a rather large plastic bag stuffed full of the things. This morning I pulled out my Setacolor paints, and put enough of the sheets in a bowl to sort of fill it up. Then I just started pouring paint on them, and scrunching them around to get the paint all over them. Here's the first batch, lovely lime green. Can you tell I'm ready for spring?



I hung the first two batches on my Ikea dryer, then ran out of clothespins. Here's the first and second batchs- lime green and yellow-red.



After that I did a red/blue/purple batch,



then a blue/green batch, and a yellow/purple.



And I've only used up about half my stash of the sheets!

i have no intention of using all of these myself. The Surface Design group I belong to is having a 'Green Challenge', with all of us to create works using only the materials we already have. As a kickoff, we're all bringing fabric/thread/whatever to our meeting Wednesday night that we don't want. It will all get piled up on a table, and we can pick what we want to take home. The work created in this challenge will be in a gallery show next October in Provo. I think it could be interesting--

I keep putting off sewing the beads on Blue Tsunami. My thumbs are really bothering me, probably all the knitting this weekend didn't help. We'll see what the orthopedist says on Wednesday morning. But geeze, I had to do SOMETHING with my hands, just sitting and watching TV drives me crazy. Even the inauguration stuff, as interesting and inspiring as I've found it. I expect tomorrow to be a total high!!

It finally got me-

The crud that has been going around, I mean. I started feeling like I was getting a cold Wednesday- by 4 pm, I left work. Thursday and Friday I spent mostly in bed. Yesterday I made it to the couch downstairs, but all I've done is knit and watch the inauguration coverage. I've loved every minute of it, and am rather peeved that I'll have to figure out a way to leave work long enough to see him take the oath and speak on Tuesday. No way I'm missing that. I can live without the parade, the balls will be on that night, but I won't miss seeing his speech live.

The other good thing that has come from being sick is the knitting. I've got a sweater about done! I completely ripped out a vest I'd done over a year ago and wasn't happy with the result. This time, I decided to do a raglan short sleeve sweater knit from the top down. I've decided it's long enough, I'm ready to start the ribbing. Then all I have left to do is pick up the neckband stitches, and do six rows of that.



Hopefully I can get this done before my appointment with the orthopedist Wednesday, for my elbow and thumbs. Both have been bothering me, although I started taking Motrin and that helped. But if I'm going to be told to give up my repetitive motion activities for awhile, I want this done first.

Hope you are keeping warm- it's winter here, but at least we aren't in the deep freeze like Chicago and the rest of the midwest. I don't miss that weather at all!

I Made It!!

I made it through the workweek after time off, and I have the Sunflower piece almost finished- just a sleeve and label left. I will still be gifting it, but have changed my mind about the recipient. An even more perfect one has come to my attention.

My small group, WAQ, met on Friday. I took the Sunflower, Blue Tsunami, and Autumn Mountains for critique. Blue Tsunami got good reviews, with only the suggestion that some beads might be a nice addition. Not too many, just some. Since I had been thinking that myself, I'll be going ahead with it. They said Sunflower needed beads, too- and it was like a knock upside the head- of course! I'd already added the metallic paint over the background quilting, and loved the effect. I spent Friday and Saturday night beading, and this morning hand sewing the back of the binding. I am very pleased with the result, and am even more pleased with the learning that came from doing this piece. I got experience dye painting with soy wax on a wholecloth design and applying paint after quilting. With that, I can cheerfully let Sunflower go to a new home. I'll do similar processes on her sister, and hopefully will see improvement in my skill with the techniques. Here she is finished-



And a detail shot-


I'm going to hit Home Depot in hopes of finding a paint roller that is only about an inch wide. And, I will figure out a way to mask the flower on the second piece when I paint. That should help alleviate the problem I had with too much paint in some areas, since I was trying to keep it off the flower. As for the beading,
I used big seed beads, size 6 I think. And, there was a lot of variation on the size in the package- which I think adds to the effect.

We had an interesting discussion about quilting on Autumn Mountains. I was thrilled when Robyn volunteered to let me quilt it on her frame with her HQ16. It will be easier than wrangling a piece that size under my Juki, that is for sure! I will just need to practice in the morning before we load the quilt, and Suzanne volunteered to come over and make sure we got off to a good start. I have played with the HQ16, but not for extended lengths of time. I won't be doing it until late in January or February, since Robyn is leaving on a cruise. So I have time to practice with paper and pencil. I'm both nervous and excited, it would be great to get it quilted in one day!

Yesterday was a red letter day for Shannon- she turned 21. We did some clothes shopping in the morning, then she got some German beer to enjoy with the German meal she is making for us tonight. It just does not feel like it has been that many years since I held her for the first time as a newborn. Where do the years go?????

We did see Doubt last weekend, I would highly recommend it. I love Meryl Streep, and the supporting cast was excellent. Not a light hearted movie, but one to make you think.

I think I will spend this afternoon cleaning up in the studio, trying to figure out what I'll work on next. Thanks for visiting!

End of Vacation

Sigh- last day before it's back to the salt mines. Oh well, WAQ is meeting this Friday, so I have that to look forward to.

I got Autumn Mountains sandwiched yesterday. I ended up cutting out all the stabilizer I'd put behind the top, except behind the tree. It did seem to help with the puffiness problem I'd noticed in some areas of the quilt, especially between tree branches. Now to do more sketches of the quilting pattern before I actually stitch. As usual, I'm paranoid about ruining all my hard work with a shabby quilting job.

Just as a warm up, I finished quilting one of the batik sunflowers I did last summer. Now, I'm planning to add some metallic bronze paint, as the Kemshall's demonstrated in their book, The Painted Quilt. I think I will gift this piece, and have the perfect person in mind. Here's a detail of the quilting--



I also did an additional layer on two more silk scarves, using Jane Dunnewold's flour paste resist. It's an interesting process, smells like you are using pancake batter. It took overnight to dry, with a fan on it (and that in our bone-dry Utah climate). Then I crinkled it, and added black Dye-na-Flow. Here's the scarves after the paint application- you have to let this sit at least 24 hours, so the paint can cure.



Here's where my problems began. I soaked the scarves in warm water as directed, to start the removal of the paste. That got a lot out- but not all. I washed it twice, then had to soak again. All told, I think I did five soaks/washes. I think my black paint is less intense as a result, but I still like the effect. The other issue I had was the softness of the scarves. They were stiff as boards! I ran them through one more wash with Milsoft, and that helped some- but they are still stiffer than I would like. Hopefully, wearing them will help. Doesn't this red look great with my purple turtleneck!!



Next time I want to get this effect, I think I will use soy wax- much easier to remove!

I'm off to church, then I think we are taking in a matinee today. "Doubt" or "Benjamin Button" are my top choices. Hope your week is a good one!

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping it's a more positive year than 2008 was.

I was home alone this morning, and managed to get all the Christmas decorations taken down and packed. I also went through our Christmas storage boxes, threw out a bunch of stuff, and organized what I kept. So all that was left for DJ to do when he got home was put the bins away in the garage. I even dragged that very tall tree outside!

I also went through my closet and picked out a bunch of clothes I haven't worn in a long time and freecycled them. Shannon decided to follow suit- I was surprised at how quickly both sets of clothes were spoken for. Most of them don't fit me anymore, so why did I hang on so long? It felt pretty good to free up space in the closet.

And, at the risk of boring everyone with yet another picture of Blue Tsunami, I finished it on 31 December. Took my photos, and then used my new copy of Gloria Hansen's Digital Essentials to walk me through extracting it from the background and sharpening the image. Hopefully that means this picture of it looks better than any of the previous posts! I think you can click on it to enlarge, that's the only way you can see the hand stitching I added. It's a subtle design element, but I like the bits of texture and line it adds.



I'm wondering how I'm going to do the sleeve so it hangs perpendicular to the floor. I've never made a quilt with such wonky sides before!

I'd highly recommend Gloria's book, it is written specifically for quilters and the kinds of pictures we take of our work. Well worth the money. Now I'm saving up for a digital SLR, I've finally decided I'm outgrowing the point and shoots, even though my relatively old Canon lets me dink with a lot of settings if I choose.

Not much else. DJ is off to see if he can get help with figuring out why our dishwasher is on the fritz. I'm just hoping it isn't going to be one of those cases where fixing it is more expensive than just buying a new one. I hate how manufacturers seem to be making high ticket items to self destruct after only a very few years of use.

Now I'm back to Autumn Mountains, trying to figure out if I need stabilizer under the whole piece or if I can get away with just under the tree. Right now, I'm inclined to to try the latter. I was less than thrilled at how the stabilizer was to work with.

No Work, Just Play!

I am enjoying a week off work. I always plan to get lots done in the studio, and it never happens the way I plan- so I'm just being relaxed about it this week. I've got two scarves with flour paste resist slathered on them, when it's dry I'm adding black crackle lines. Beyond that, the only studio time I've spent is with Bentlee.

She wanted to make a house like I did earlier, so I had her pick out the fabrics she wanted. I fused the backgrounds to the interfacing, then set up my Featherweight for her to sew the 'windows' and 'doors' on. She is really concentrating!



After she did all that, I sewed the parts together, which required the use of my Bernina and a zigzag. She's just not tall enough to reach the controls for this machine. Once I got that done, she saw a crown, and had to model it!


I did manage to get the roof on so she could take it home. She did a nice job picking fabrics, didn't she?

I am not one for video games, but I have to admit Bentlee's dad has got one that I like. He introduced us to Guitar Hero, which we've had a blast playing together. Last week he got Rock Band, which also had drums and vocals. Here's one version of our 'family band', with Shannon and Bentlee on guitar, and Lance on the drums-



Forgive the slight fuzziness, I've been playing with some of my camera's creative settings, and did this using the continuous shoot mode. And, the light wasn't the best.

Well, as one who always had fantasies of singing with a band, that was too much to resist. I had to try the vocals- and promptly got booed off three of the four songs I tried. What do you mean, I can't sing Bob Seeger's Hollywood Nights?' I do it all the time in the studio, and I think I sound just FINE!! In fact, the only song I got all the way through was a relatively recent one that I didn't know, and wasn't even trying to sing on. So what gives??

I did find out I can do the drums fairly well, however, and my skill with the guitar is improving. My only quibble with the game- they need more songs I know, like songs from the 60's!! In other words, make a version with stuff for us boomers!!!

I am still working on Blue Tsunami, doing the hand stitching. I'm too the point of deciding if I have enough, or I keep going. Here's a detail, I really do like the additional texture this gives the piece. And, all I have left with the facing is to sew it down on the back.


More later this week, hope you enjoyed your holidays!

Christmas Calm

We had a nice, relaxed Christmas at home. The big storm that was supposed to hit waited until we went to bed to show, which made picking up the grandkids easier for Lance.

Christmas breakfast has always been an important family tradition for me- I try to make things I don't normally do. So, I was up early making caramel rolls, using Laura Cater-Woods recipe from her blog. It did not disappoint!



After cleaning up the kitchen, the four of us retired to the living room and had fun opening presents. I now am a happy owner of Jane Dunnewold's book, 'Finding Your Own Visual Language', a lovely hand-thrown bowl, a new watch, a wide assortment of coffees, and a number of new goodies for the kitchen from Ikea.

We just relaxed until the kids arrived in the afternoon, then watched them tear through their presents. Dinner was a low-key, traditional one with only our friend Patty an addition to the table.

I rather liked the relaxed atmosphere- no stress, just fun. I need to remember that next year!

This morning, we woke up to at least 6 inches of snow. Shannon has to work today, so I was out shoveling the driveway while she got ready. This is the sight that greeted me--



Yes, it looks beautiful, I won't deny that. I just hope that we don't get hammered with storms this winter. Our home is in a high-density development, and when the snow gets thick, it is hard to drive, and harder to park. We may be looking at having to haul the snow out if this keeps up!

I hope your holiday was blessed and full of family, friends, and good cheer. And now, I'm off to the studio in the hopes I can get Blue Tsunami faced, and the hand stitching started.

Rushed and Harried- there's too much to do!!

It has been nuts this weekend, what with trying to get stuff done. I'm having some co-workers over for breakfast tomorrow, and wanted to gift each of them with one of the houses Jane Davila did for Quilting Arts Gifts. I got all the pieces fused by early this morning, and sewed like crazy all day. Not a lot of extra embellishment, but I'm happy with how they came out. Please forgive the extraneous stuff from my studio, but the roofs are still drying with the glue, and I didn't want to move them.



While I was busy down in the studio, Shannon was busy all day in the kitchen. She made a dozen loaves of her special Swiss braids for gifts at her work Here's a couple rising,



and here's a couple that are done baking. This bread is yummy!



Friday night I also did some dye painting with some of the silk scarves I have left. I was not happy with most of the results- I just don't like what I get with dye painting as opposed to low water immersion, at least as a first application of the dye. So I took three of them, and overdyed them today after I got the sewing done. Fortunately, I could use the same color on all three, and I took the easy way out and used the vinegar-microwave method. I may go at them again with discharge paste, but that will have to wait until next weekend.

I also got an early Christmas present. Karen Stiel Osborn had a special sale on some of her cards, and I couldn't resist. I got them a week ago, and they are even more spectacular in person. I'm going to try mounting and framing them, that's how special they are. Karen does wonderful collages, in both paper and cloth.



I am so not ready for Christmas. I haven't wrapped a single gift, and still have a couple to buy. I did get the gifts intended for my kids who live in Florida and Chicago mailed last Friday, so hopefully they will be there on time.

I'm working through the 24th, then will have a blessed vacation until January 5. I'm hoping to spend a lot of it in the studio.

Modeling and Quilting

A rather interesting combination, no? I did quite a bit of work on Blue Tsunami yesterday. The circles are quilted with metallic silver, and the curved lines (waves?) with Superior variegated Rainbows.

I thought a lot about how I wanted to do this. This piece says 'water' to me, and I wanted to evoke that same sense with the quilting. Not to much, just gentle curves rolling around the circles. I wanted a sense of piece and calm, and gentle, rolling waves. Did I achieve my goal?





This piece has been an interesting journey. I started it to answer two questions: can I make my hand-dyes and printed fabric play well together, and what would happen if I worked with strip sets that were made with curved piecing. From there, the piece began to tell me what it wanted.

I still need to trim out (curves, of course) the top and bottom borders, then put on the facing. But I've answered my questions, learned, and am pleased with the results.

As for the modeling, I was invited to a gathering last night with my wildlife rehab friend Patti. It was a group of people who get together regularly and draw, mostly portraits. It was an eclectic group, lots of interesting discussion. When they asked if I'd model, I agreed. Lanny, our host, has a large studio behind his home. Part is set up for drawing, and the other half is his woodshop where he makes this incredible furniture from fire-killed and other dead juniper that he collects out on the dessert. You can see one of his couches in the picture. Anyway, here I am, all set up. Lanny is drawing on the right, and James is on the left.



And here I am with Candee drawing.



It was fascinating watching how the different portraits developed when I took my breaks. Each one was different, yet each was me. I learned that my ability to dissociate comes in handy when you have to hold a pose for twenty minutes, and that it is harder to dissociate when they play good rock and roll music!

Here's James' finished portrait, just to give you an idea.



Like I said, all were different, yet all were clearly me. Lanny and Candee gave me their finished drawings, and I'm trying to figure out how I can mount and hang them.

We're off to church, some grocery shopping, and hopefully more work on Blue Tsunami. It's freezing cold, we had our first snow yesterday with more coming next week. A good day to hole up in the studio! Hope your week is a productive one!

A New Winter Tradition

Shannon has been talking about the apple fritters she ate while in Switzerland last year- and today she finally decided to try making her own. Judging by how fast they went, I'd say she succeeded in recreating her memory.

She found a batter recipe in old trusty Joy of Cooking, and used Granny Smith apples. Here she is putting some slices that have been battered into the oil.



And here is the final, yummy, result- a little powdered sugar, and I'm game for a new family tradition!



Didn't get anything done yesterday, other than mundane stuff like laundry. Shannon's car battery went dead yesterday, so we spent part of the afternoon dealing with that. But today, I got Blue Tsunami sandwiched and the anchor stitching done. I've decided that whoever thinks that stitch in the ditch is the way for beginner's to start quilting is nuts. It is hard, there were a couple of places where I wasn't quite there. But it's unobtrusive enough that I'm not ripping it out. Next is outline stitching the circles with a silver metallic thread, then quilting the whole thing in gentle curves- easy, I'll use my walking foot.

I did forget to mention- Friday we went to Body Worlds, a special exhibit in Salt Lake. A German company figured out a way to 'plasticate' bodies to prevent them from decomposing, and there are multiple exhibits of bodies that have been donated and plasticated, many of them in athletic and/or artistic poses. You could see the musculature, how our innards fit together, what a healthy lung looks like vs. a smoker's lung. It was fascinating, and all of it was real human bodies, not models or replications. And there was a camel and her baby,too. Anyway, if this show comes your way, by all means go. It's not in the least gory--

Hope your week is a good one!

I've Been Nominated for a Blogging Award!



Katherine Sands from Illinois dyes luscious silk scarves, among other things- and she kindly nominated me for the Kreativ Blogging Award. Considering she also nominated Rayna Gillman and Denise Aumick, I'm honored!

The rules are:

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from in your blog.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Like Katherine, I'd like to nominate bloggers that perhaps haven't gotten something like this previously. So, my five nominees are:

Karoda at Seamless Skin. Karoda is both thoughtful and thought-provoking, and creates fiber art in that same vein. I love reading about where her muse takes her.

Nellie at Nellie's Needles is one of the most creative bloggers I know. She is generous in sharing her processes, and has created a series based on the moods of Lake Michigan that is stunning. She uses leftover fabric bits and thread to create her unique pieces.

Judy in the Dyes creates gorgeous silk scarves and Complexitees- T shirts with wonderful surface design! We also became political soulmates the past few months, two blues adrift in seas of red.

Lisa in Boise writes about her life in Idaho, raising a daughter and volunteering at the art museum when she is not creating. I love how her art seems to find its way into almost every aspect of her family's life.

Kathy Nida reminds me that creativity can be nurtured in the middle of apparent chaos. She earns my everlasting admiration just by being a junior high school teacher- but she has two children of her own in that age range, and she manages to make wonderful quilts in her own unique, graphic style. She pulls no punches in her blog, it is a chronicle of her life.

I have lots of blogs I follow, but these five just jumped out at me. Have a look, enjoy their one of a kind creations!