Done!

I finished the quilting on the background matte for Walk in the Woods 2 this weekend, and got the quilt sew to the matte.  All I have left to do is the label and sleeve- and, since I am planning to enter this in a show in Salt Lake in January, I won't be slow about those!

The quilting on the matte that bothered me when I started grew on me as I did it.  I may do it a little differently for the next in the series, but I'm happy with this one.  And if you are wondering, the matte is intentionally longer on the bottom.  I quilted a combination of leaf outlines and straight lines on the matte.

Last weekend we went to a couple of craft fairs.  Most of it was stuff that held no interest for me, but one vendor grabbed my attention immediately.  She had an entire booth of hand-sewn small quilts and pillows.  After a lot of deliberation, I chose this one- I couldn't resist that shot of chartreuse!

The quilt is entirely made by hand- as far as I can tell, using reverse applique and no or a very thin batt.  As for where it comes from,I'll just quote the information I received with the quilt:

The amazing story of Lila Handicrafts began perhaps thousands of years ago when women in the desert area of Pakistan started making beautiful textiles and quilts.  Patterns and colors in the cotton were passed down from mother to daughter produced time honored practical and beautiful quilts called rallis.

In 2004, men and women in the small village of Tehsil Diploh, Sindh in the far southern part of the Thar Desert formed a cooperative to make and sell their rallis.  They are from the Hindu untouchable group  and had very few opportunities to make money in a rural area.  Through the internet, they reached Patricia Stoddard who had written the first book about rallis.  The rallis from Lila Handicrafts were first sold at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market in 2006.  Since then, they have been sold every year.  They were even featured in "O" Magazine in 2010!

Originally, the money from the rallis was used to provide a primary school for their children.  In August 2011, a terrible flood hit the entire region affecting about 6 million people.  Selling their Lila rallis provided the families with some funds to rebuild their lives and continue in their good efforts.  Special thanks to SHINEhumanity.org for their help in sustaining and rebuilding the community!  For more information see www.ralliquilt.com or www.ralliquilt.com.uk.

I love being able to buy a beautiful piece of fiber art, and helping a community in a poor part of the globe at the same time.  Once I get a sleeve sewn on the back, it will be a wonderful shot of color in my home- and a reminder of how women throughout the world find both joy in creating beauty with fabric, needle and thread.  

I'm linking this post up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.  Go look at all the other creative spirits linked up there!

Quilting the Frame

We had a very low-key, relaxed Thanksgiving weekend.  We didn't even cook, but went out for dinner.  I've managed to find some time in the studio, working on the frame for the Walk in the Woods piece, and starting the next Tangled Textiles challenge.

I am liking doing these small pieces.  I have no excuse not to finish them, and hopefully make all the mistakes on the small rather than a larger piece.  Here's where I'm at with the frame so far--

I thought I'd continue the lines of the trees at the top, using a variegated thread that looked like it would blend it with the fabric.  Instead, it has a pale part that really stands out, at least to my eye.  I'm not sure I'm in love with the effect, but no way I'm ripping it all out.

I've done some free motion leaves on the rest of the frame, and in order to balance the other three sides with the top, I'll have to quilt the closely spaced lines between the leaves, also.  

Not a lot of work left on it, but enough that I won't finish it this weekend.  And I'm making mental notes of the parts I want to change when I do this in a larger size.  I think I'll limit the quilting on the frame to leaves, in a solid color thread that just blends in with the background.

I'm still considering how I will finish the edge of the frame.  I may do an envelope finish, I'm kind of leaning in that direction.  But I haven't eliminated the idea of finishing that edge like the central piece, with the rattail cord.

In the meantime, I'm also working on another small piece in an entirely different palette.  But that one will have to wait.  Have a creative week!

Pumpkin White Bean Chili

I haven't done a foodie post in awhile, and this chili I made earlier this week was one of the best cold weather dishes I've made in a long time.  It was absolutely scrumptious!

I have been following a number of food bloggers for awhile, and have been surprised at the number from Utah.  This Pumpkin, White Bean and Pork Chili came from Foodie Crush- and the recipe is here.  Add a dollop of sour cream in your bowl of chili, and you will be in foodie heaven.

I used a small sugar pumpkin, but it would also be good with butternut squash instead.  And I used spinach instead of kale, knowing that my family would prefer the less chewy green.  It only takes a couple of minutes of cooking after you add the spinach, and it is ready to serve.

If you don't want to use pork, shredded chicken or turkey would probably be just as good.  The seasoning is simple- salt, pepper, and cumin, which gives it a nice smoky flavor.  Add a loaf of crusty bread, and you have a simple, quick cold weather meal.

Walk in the Woods, Again

I spent a lot of time in the studio over the long weekend.  I got this small study completely quilted, and then spent time doing hand and machine embroidery.  I am really happy with how it turned out!

I quilted heavily in the green pieced areas- all straight line, with a variegated King Tut thread.  I'd planned to do some free motion on the tree trunks, but when I saw how my straight-line quilting made the trunks stand out and look almost dimensional, I changed my mind.  Then I did some machine embroidery, and topped that with hand embroidery in colors to give some pop.  I loved the effect it created.

The quilt is bound with a zigzag stitch and rattail cord.  I like this much better than yarn, it gives a cleaner and sleeker look.  I think the piece needs to be bordered some how, so I started auditioning fabric for a 'matte', something I learned from Jean Wells' books.  I found the perfect piece (in the top photo), which I plan to quilt before sewing Walk in the Woods 2 on it.  I'll be thinking about how to quilt the matte to best show this off.

So many things about this piece work for me.  I love how the heavy quilting softens the piecing lines, and makes the tree trunks stand out.  I love the effect I got with the machine embroidery, and will be experimenting with this a lot more.  And, I love the pops of color from the hand embroidery.

One more note: I have FINALLY mastered French knots!  I have tried to do them many times over the years, never successfully.  Today, after watching two video tutorials and one book, I finally figured out what I was doing wrong.  The French knots on the bottom of this piece were the final design element I wanted- crunchy texture to remind me of the crunchy leaves underfoot in the woods.

I'm really glad I did this small study, I'm already thinking about how I can take what I learned from it and make something similar in a larger size for a show next year. 

I am linking up this post with Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  Make sure you go take a look at what the other artists have posted!

This and That---

I've had a lovely extra-long weekend, despite the weather.  I managed to get most of the grocery shopping done Friday morning, braving the storm that left our back patio looking like this when I woke up:

By afternoon, our street looked like this--

It snowed fairly steadily all day Friday and most of Saturday; we finally got a break Sunday, then today was sunny and cold.

All that white stuff made it the perfect weekend to spend time in the studio.  I got my second small Walk in the Woods piece quilted, embroidered (machine and hand), and bound.  I am really happy with how it turned out!  I learned a number of lessons- or, better yet, had some things that I'd 'known' before from all my reading reinforced with this 'doing.'  

While working on the last bits of embroidery, I started thinking about the next Tangled Textiles piece, due in January.  The theme is 'Blue'- a word that I chose because it can be interpreted as a simple color study, or by referencing one of the many expressions or meanings the word has.  I'm leaning towards one of the expressions, but who knows, that could change.  As I sorted my embroidery floss after finishing Walk in the Woods 2, what color am I most lacking in?

The color is lousy in the photo, and I can't seem to get it right with PSE- but it was pretty obvious to me that I need lots more blues in this stash!

I will have photos of this latest piece posted later in the week.  In the meantime, I will be trying to stay warm!

Walking in the Woods

I managed two walks on the river trail this weekend.  The weather has been glorious here, in the low sixties with gorgeous blue skies.  The best of the colors are behind us, but there is still plenty to see.

The first day, I noticed this wasp's nest in a tree- previously hidden by the tree's leaves!

Today I saw this bird's nest, safe and secure in a couple of large limbs.

Isn't that blue sky gorgeous against the white tree bark?

I've also been in the studio.  I am determined to find a way to interpret this photo I took in Michigan in a way that makes me happy. 

I am going for the restful tones of green against the vertical lines of the trees.  The leaves were just starting to turn when I was there in September, so I chose fabric that would reflect the colors I thought I would see at the height.  Here's what I have pieced--

I am going to try some wonky machine embroidery, and add hand embroidery at the end.  I'm hoping that will help tone down some of those yellow areas that just jump out at me. The quilting will be simple and linear.

I'm already thinking about the next one.  I'm thinking I will limit the number of green fabrics, and bring it accents with thread- embroidery and quilting.  That will help take care of some of the issues I had with all those piecing seams!  In the meantime, I am having fun with these. They are small enough to do quickly, and I'm hoping one of them will be good enough to develop into a larger quilt.  It does feel good to be working this way!

Tangled Textiles Challenge: Beginnings

Multiple Beginnings, 2012

16 X 16

Hand dyed and commercial cottons, machine pieced and quilted

This is my latest challenge piece with the Tangled Textiles online group.  The theme was Beginnings.  This one has two meanings for me: my love of beginning the day with a walk outside among the trees and farmlands in my area, and walking through the woods in Michigan on a camping trip with my son Ian and his fiance.  My inspiration came from these photos that I took on that camping trip.

I wanted to capture the myriad of greens, the sense of light and shadow coming through the trees, and the vertical lines of the tree trunks. The trees were just starting to show signs of fall color, and I wanted to capture that also. I think I did.

I fell victim, however, to what Jane Sassaman calls the 'tragedy of the literal', mainly in my quilting choices.  I'm just not happy with the quilting in the upper and very lower sections of the quilt- too literal.  And, I've about decided that the more modern quilts that use strip piecing and odd geometrics don't always lend themselves to the hyper-quilting that is so prevalent today.  I think I'd be happier with simple vertical and horizontal lines.  That would also have lent itself to some hand embroidery, which I'd wanted to do but decided against once the quilting was done.  In the detail shots, you can see how closely the top portion is quilted.

 I used a variegated thread in this, and I was surprised at how light it looks compared to when I puddled it on the quilt.  It's all shades of green, but a lot of it reads almost like white.  It tends to minimize the piecing lines much more than I was anticipating.

I'm determined to make this freeform piecing my own, which I figure is going to take some doing since so many artists have utilized this way of working.  Right now I'm thinking the biggest struggle I'll have is finding a quilting style that complements the simplicity of the piecing.  The literal-ness of this quilting just isn't working for me, so my next iteration of this will try something different.  I am certainly open to suggestions and input!
  
I am linking this post to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday group.  There are plenty of other artists with interesting posts over there!

Chicago

After a week in Florida, I flew to Chicago to spend a week with my younger son Ian and his fiance Corey.  On the last day of my week with them, we took the train downtown and spent the day walking Chicago.  I lived outside of Chicago (not far from where Ian is living now) in the late 70's and early 80's, but I haven't been back in years.  Maybe 1990?  I can't remember.

Obviously, a lot has changed since I was there.  We decided we were going to visit the Shedd Aquarium, and walked there from the train station.  At times, I felt like I was walking through an urban slot canyon!

We walked over the river more than once on our journey through the city.

I'm sure I embarrassed Ian multiple times looking like a tourist with my camera!

I loved the view of the city from the aquarium.  I could never live in this huge city, but the waterfront there is beautiful.

A nice gentleman offered to take a picture of all three of us at Buckingham Fountain.

Just across Lake Shore Drive from this park, we stumbled into an urban garden.  I found it fascinating.

And, I loved stumbling onto urban art as we walked around.  At first I thought this was the plaza in the last scenes of the Blues Brothers, but Ian informed me otherwise.  The building is a post office, not the Chicago city offices.  Oh well, I like the sculpture anyway!!

My favorite urban sculpture, however, was the Bean.

The 'views' of the city in the Bean were fascinating.  I now have quite a collection of city pictures, which I'm sure will provide plenty of inspiration for future quilts.

We were exhausted after walking the city the entire day.  It was nice to be able to sit back on the train, and let someone else worry about driving back to the suburbs!

St. Augustine

I'd told my son I wanted to go there this trip, since they probably won't be living in Florida that much longer.  He's done with school in March 2014, and he's anticipating relocating for a new job when he's done. 

So we left for St. Augustine on Sunday.  I have now traveled almost the entire length of Florida, and I can say it is all pretty much the same- lots of trees, lots of green.  If I didn't have signs, I doubt I could tell the difference between Daytona Beach or Naples.

St. Augustine is an interesting mix of history and tourist schlock.  We got a hotel within walking distance of everything we wanted to see- the old town and the castillo. We walked the old town streets, browsing in some of the more interesting shops.  I was disappointed that a fiber/cloth store I found was closed on both Sunday and Monday.

I loved the sense of history that was evident throughout the old part of town.  The European roots of this city were clear, from some of the cobbled streets to the Place de la Constitucion, the oldest public square in North America.

But the best part was the Castilo de San Marco.  We walked the outside on the first day, but waited until Monday to pay to go inside so we wouldn't be rushed.  It was worth the wait.

This was inside the castilo, in the soldier's bunk area.  This is a bed for four- two up, two down.  They weren't much bigger than a twin bed.

 The park rangers give talks throughout the day.  I got to see their costumes- they are wool.  I can't imagine wearing that in Florida in July.  The one I spoke with said the one concession to the weather was forgoing the big overcoat everyone would have worn in the seventeenth century.

The view of the city from the top part of the castilo was stunning.

 I'll end this with a picture of my beautiful Michelle, taken on the castilo grounds.

Add in a little bit of shopping, good food- it was a wonderful two days.

Hellooo Out There!

Two weeks since my last post.  It's taken that long to get most of my photos from the trip edited, and to get my head wrapped around being back at work.  Then last weekend we took off and spent a couple of days with a friend in Moab, always a welcome trip.

And, I went to a second meeting with the art quilt group I've found in Utah county. I am really liking this group of women, they are energetic and creative.  One of the members, Sue, has a blog and took some pictures at the meeting- they are posted here.  She also makes the most gorgeous jewelry, and has an Etsy shop.  I've drooled over the pieces she's worn to the meetings.

Some of the group got together Saturday afternoon to dye and paint fabric.  I wanted to get more greens in my stash, and got 3 different value gradations done.

I wanted toned greens, so each of these gradations has a different amount of red in it.  I also used two different sets of primary colors.  I knew I wouldn't do solids, so I did these LWI with lots of squishing and massaging to smooth out the texture.  Some still have a lot of mottling, but I'm pleased with how they turned out.

Of course I was so focused on the gradations, I forgot to take pictures of what everyone else was doing.  Bonnie and Liza Ann were playing with Setacolors and trying to sunprint, but the sun wasn't cooperating.  Kathleen did a hue gradation that looked very interesting, and was still dyeing when I left. Kathleen helped Denise and Pat get some colors dyed for projects they were planning, and I helped Denise with a small parfait.  All in all, it was a fun afternoon.

I also did a parfait, just to give Denise and Pat and idea of what it is.  I did lemon yellow on the bottom, strongest red next, then cobalt blue and finally cerulean.  Oh, and I added a dab of red to both the blues.  This is what I got.

The bottom one, the yellow, was glorious.  Take a look at this!

I'm keeping this one up on the design wall for awhile, just so I can look at all those glorious greens and yellows.

I have been working on my Tangled Textiles challenge piece- it is pieced, sandwiched, and I have been auditioning quilting designs.  I think I know where I'm headed, and will finish it next weekend (just before the reveal!!)

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from my camping trip with my son Ian and his fiance Corey- we went to Ludington State Park in northwest Michigan.  It was a very last minute decision to go there- we changed our plans the morning we left, mostly hoping to find warmer weather in Michigan than in northern Wisconsin where we'd originally decided to go.  The park had wonderful acomodations (real bathrooms and showers, no less!!), and a plethora of biking and hiking trails, all accessible from the campground.  It is the 'sense of place' that inspired my TT piece, and probably more after that one.

For someone who has spent most of her life in the desert west, the lushness of the woods was breathtaking.  I couldn't get enough of all those greens!!