home
about the artist
gallery
blog
links
contact

Archive for the ‘Commission quilt’ Category

Where Does the Time Go?

Tuesday, August 5th, 2014

paigesweaterfinal

My life has changed so much over the past few months. I no longer have a daily studio practice that I can blog about. My studio is too hot to spend time there right now. I also have taken on an extra job with Surface Design Association which requires a minimum of 15 hours a week on my computer. I really like the job and feel that I am helping to get our online database in good order. I know I can fit in some quality studio time when the weather gets cooler.

Tomorrow, we are heading down to San Francisco to spend some time with the adorable Paige and her Mom and Dad. Remember that sweater that I started oh so long ago. It took a back seat in my life when we were going through the downsizing and moving. I decided to finish it and take it with me. It has short sleeves so that is why it looks a little odd.  It is all done and washed and blocked and just needs a couple of buttons. My button supply is at the studio so I will stop in the morning and grab a couple and get it finished before we get there on Thursday.

I am excited to go to the American Craft Council show at Fort Mason on Saturday with Lisa and Clay. I hope to have lots of cool photos to show.

Last week, I went down to a church in Albany, Or to talk to 3 lovely ladies about doing a commission for them. Here is the wall where the quilt would go.

commissionwall1stChristian

The round fiber art piece seems to be a glued collage. It has no stitching. The wall will stay that brownish color. You can see from the sanctuary that this neutral color scheme it their vibe.

albanychurchcross

I usually work with a more primary color scheme for my liturgical work so I was thinking, this is going to be a problem. I talked to them about what vision they have. They talked about something with rounded edges and sculptural or 3-D. Oh, oh – that would not be my thing at all. As I talked to them, I realized that what they wanted was something that did not have straight edges and had movement – I could do that. We talked about the mission of the church which is encapsulated in 3 words: Spirituality, Community and Justice. We talked about incorporating those ideas into the work, with symbols or scripture.

I was still worrying about colors when we went on a tour of the facilities and I saw this vestment hanging:

albanychurchvestments

I knew I had found the color palette that would work. So, next, I will dye some color samples – I want to do this in silk and do some sketches and go back to meet with them in a couple of months.

So, that is what I have been up to.

I promise to check in from the City by the Bay!!

Home in Portland

Wednesday, August 9th, 2006

It is so wonderful to call Portland, home. Yesterday, Steph and M & M picked us up at the airport. It was perfect to come home and sit on the deck with family around.  M & M came for lunch today and stayed with us while Steph did some errands. I got very sleepy, but managed to revive myself with a diet Coke. I must stay awake to watch Project Runway tonight.

These photos arrived in my e-mail, today. Veni Sancto Spiritus is now hanging in its new home:

Wesleyquilt

Wesleyquilt2

Wesleyquilt3

So I have breathed a sigh of relief.

I wanted to share some pictures from our field trip on our last day in New York. I love MacKenzie Childs pottery. I first discovered it at Nieman Marcus in Palo Alto back in the 80’s. I bought one piece. A few years ago, we went wine tasting in the Finger Lakes and stopped by their location in Aurora. I bought one of the fish platters. We were there late in the day so we didn’t get to take the tour.

Here is the entrance:

Macchilds

The signature motif for MacKenzie Childs is Courtly Check and it is everywhere! I love it!

Courtlycheckwalls

Courtlycheckvase

Acchildstablebase

Courtlychecksign

Courtlycheckumbrellas

Courtlychecksawhorse

This is the original farm house which you can tour. Every room is decorated with MacKenzie Childs stuff. Every room is gorgeous and eclectic with  modern art and a mix of antiques and modern furniture and wonderful fabrics. When you are in the showroom, it is a bit overwhelming to see all the patterns and items, but in the house they are very tastefully used in the decor. We were not allowed to take photos.

Macchildsfarmhouse

The landscape is gorgeous too. The farm overlooks Cayuga lake. There are sheep, ducks and other poultry wandering about.

Macchildswillows

I came home with these things ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù this Courtly Check metal tray and serving set.

Courtlychecktray

And this casserole which is joining a fish platter from my last visit:

Fishplatter

I leave you with this very gorgeous item ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù a lime green silk comforter!!

Lmegreenspread

I am so excited about the upcoming week-end. The members of STASH are taking the train to Seattle on Friday afternoon for the APQN Quiltfest.

The Fat Lady Has Sung

Thursday, June 22nd, 2006

It’s over. The worship quilt, fittingly named "Veni Sancte Spiritus" (Come Holy Spirit) is winging its way to Mobile, Alabama.  Mr. C describes it this way: the rainbow background represents God’s Creation and the crosses in many colors represent the diversity of God’s people who inhabit the earth.

It should arrive on Monday. Needless to say, I am very nervous. I hope it lives up to all the hype and works to the Glory of God in its new space. I hope they will send me photos of it hanging there. In the meantime, here is a photo and close-up that I took this morning:

Venisantespiritus

 

Vsscloseup_1

You can see some photos that Steph took here.

I feel somewhat lost and at loose ends. I am having empty nest syndrome!! I have some cleaning up to do, for sure. This week-end is the BIG Eastmoreland annual garage sale. We are going to participate in that on Saturday. I need to get to work on my correspondence course with Jane Dunnewold. That will surely be fun and creative.

Last night when we were walking about the neighborhood, we stopped to introduce ourselves to some new folks from California. They also have a mid-century brick ranch. Well, it turns out that they publish this magazine which I have seen before:

Atomicranch

So they are going to come by and check out our house. They are working on theirs and plan to photograph it for the magazine and a book that they are publishing on  mid-century design. Before this they lived in a bungalow in Pasadena.

Well, I am off to think about what to put out for the garage sale and what to charge. Steph, the garage sale queen, is coming over tomorrow to help us. I promised her a fabulous gourmet dinner in return.

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!

Monday, June 19th, 2006

Help! I am trapped behind my sewing machine, mindlessly satin stitching crosses. I think I have about 25 left to do. I am doing them by color, of course, so that I don’t have to change thread often. Here are a couple of pics. I want to finish tomorrow.

Crossstitch1

Crossstitch2

I just want to say that I love my Janome 6600!!

We have those temporary shades on many of our windows. The new window coverings were supposed to be installed this morning and I was looking forward to running from room to room, removing these ugly things. Then the guy called and said he can’t be here until Wednesday morning. So I have to wait to have my purge of tacky, temporary shades.

I am doing well over 12,000 steps most days. In fact. today I logged over 10,000 aerobic steps. I am feeling so strong and energetic. Thanks, Debra, for getting me started! 

Keep It Simple, Stupid

Wednesday, June 14th, 2006

I just was not happy with the quilt as it was developing with the gradation of crosses. I went back to look at the original piece which inspired the client to ask me to do this larger piece. It was so simple and so elegant and the colors of the crosses had wonderful movement up the banner. So I removed all of the crosses and started over with just one size. Fortunately I had some of that size already cut, but I had to cut a lot more! So here it is with the crosses pinned on. Tomorrow I will fuse and start sewing.

Originalvision

I have been very busy doing other stuff. Yesterday, I got in over 12,000 steps. Today, I have over 11,000. Last night I went to STASH at Beth’s house. She made the most incredible raspberry pie. The raspberries were from her garden. I woke up this morning craving another piece!!

Today we took M & M out to lunch to celebrate the end of school. We went to their favorite restaurant, Mio Sushi. We feasted on edamame, miso soup, sushi, udon noodle soup, sashimi and it was all so good.

Tonight, I went to my first meeting of the Columbia Stitcher’s Guild. This is a guild of all sorts of fiber folks – weavers, wearable art, and the art quilter’s – High Fiber Diet. They meet quarterly. Our guest speaker spoke about adapting ethnic patterns for modern day wear. I loved some of the stuff she showed, and we got patterns, Hope to have something to show in the future.

Tomorrow is the monthly art date with Terry and June. I am busy, busy and having lots of fun!