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I took a photo of this outside this afternoon and finally have a good photo of this!! Click on it to see all the detail I put into it!
It is a beautiful day here in Portland. I think I finally have spring fever.
There was something really bugging me about my Spicy Nine Patch so I did a do over. You can see the first one here. I had too many blocks with the yellow ribbon border. I would like to take one more out, but am forcing myself to stop!!
I received some more felting needles in the mail this week. I ordered them from a very informative felting website — Try Our Designs. She has some excellent information on machine felting, needles, needle breakage, etc. She has needles in different sizes and they are cut to fit specific machines or attachments. I am anxious to give them a try.
I have had such a good day. I made great progress in cleaning up and organizing my studio and office. I have a bit more to do and then I can get to work on some new projects. The weather today was a mix of rain showers and lots of sun breaks. We are due to get some really nice weather for the next few days. I can’t wait.
As often happens, I have worked so hard on this that I now see all of its flaws! Here is how it came together.
I felted roving and ribbons and bits of chiffon to 12 inch square pieces of prefelt — one was paprika in color and the other was saffron.
I then cut these into 4 1/2 inch squares.
I then felted additional bits and pieces of fabric and roving to the squares. I embellished each with beads and perle cotton. I purchased canvas in a couple of colors which I auditioned as a backing for the squares, but it seemed a bit heavy. I had a piece of reddish organza which I doubled and used. I think it was a good solution.
I really like each of the little squares that I created as stand alone little works of art. So there you have it. It is probably the most expensive piece that I have done for any Twelve by Twelve challenge — hand and machine felting needles, beads, lots of fabric, backing fabric that I did not use!
Tomorrow, I am having a mental health day with some friends. We are going to drive to Tillamook to see an exhibit of work by Cynthia Corbin at the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center. We will probably have ice cream for lunch at the Tillamook Cheese Factory!
I received a shipment of machine felting needles yesterday that seem to be working very nicely in my Bernina attachment. I got a lot of work done on one of the collages yesterday without too much breakage.
Today, I went to a bead store to look for some spicy beads for further embellishment. I like the colors and the assortment that I found. I am not sure if or how much beading I might do, but I wanted to have something on hand just in case.
It has been a catch up day here at our house. We did some neatening and cleaning. I did three loads of laundry. Mr C used his new power washer to clean out gutters and clean moss from the roof shingles. We are beginning to wonder how much longer we want to have this place to take care of. It is a lot of work, but we love the benefits of having a home large enough for entertaining and my fabric habit.
I am so excited and happy for my friend Bonnie Bucknam, who won Best of Show for Quilt National 2o11. She is an accomplished quilter and artist. On top of that, she is a very caring and sharing member of our High Fiber Diet group and the Columbia Stitchery Guild. She has been a driving force in HFD, getting us to create traveling shows every year and improving our professionalism. I am just thrilled that she has been given this honor. You can see all of this year’s special award winners on The Dairy Barn FB page.
When I was walking Scooter with Mr C this morning, I came upon this scene that I just had to photograph. I guess we can call it fuchsia snow!
Enjoy your week-end. I am looking forward to some family time tomorrow, with sunshine!!
I have continued working on the felted collages, using a hand felting needle punch. I bought more needles yesterday and tonight, I am down to one. BUT, I am having fun. I have some machine felting needles on order. I hope they get here tomorrow or Saturday so that I can finish these. I probably won’t show any more work on this until the reveal on June 1.
Lyric Kinard has a post and some photos of the PAQA South ARTQUILT Movement on her blog. You can see my Prairie Fields hanging with some other gorgeous quilts.
Our Twelve by Twelve book has a review in an art, not a quilting, magazine — AmericanStyle Magazine — very exciting. Click to see it on line.
The rain continues, but we are hoping for some sunshine and warmer temps this week-end. Considering the horrible weather events in other parts of the country, I really don’t want to complain!
