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Archive for the ‘12X12 challenge’ Category

Chairs in a Salvage Yard

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

When we lived in California (seems like eons ago), I took some photos of some fabulous old chairs in a salvage shop. I have always loved these photos so when Deborah chose the chair theme, I immediately went to those photos that have been languishing on my Flickr site.  This is the photo I used to create the screen a couple of posts ago.

lots-ofchairs

As I walked around the yard, there were more chairs in little vignettes.

twosalvagechairs

2morechairs

I looked in my art cloth bin and found this fabric that was soy wax printed with some found objects. The colors were perfect for the background. I printed a stack of turquoise chairs and then got stuck!!

chairbackground

I played with the other photos and printed them on cotton. I cropped the stack of chairs and printed some chairs in different sizes. It was all too monochromatic.  The original salvage sign was blue with copper writing. I played with it in Photoshop to make it the complement of the turquoise colors. I also made the chair sign with the Broken font in orange.

That was just what the piece needed. Here it is. I am really pleased with this piece, and I am so glad that I put the time into it, even though it was very difficult for me this past month. You can click on this to see the details.

salvagechairsfinal

Here is a detail:

salvagechairdetailfinal

I have often wondered where these chairs were in a previous life and what stories they would have to tell. Now, go on over to see the other chairs on the 12 X 12 site, you will not be disappointed.

Simple Geometry

Monday, December 1st, 2008

What a day!! I went to Costco at 10 am this morning and was given an hour and a half time to wait for my flat tire to be repaired. Argh! Me and too much time in Costco could be trouble. I have now walked every isle in the store. I know every cool and tacky thing that they carry. I tasted every thing that they were offering – even a quarter of a slice of whole wheat toast!! I am shameless. The best thing was roasted chicken with wild rice. I bought some and stuck it in the freezer for frenetic days.

I needed to rephotograph my 12 X 12 quilt before I posted it here. The luminous fabrics that I use make photography a challenge. I lined up my lights coming in from the sides and I like this one.

Since I am very math deficient, I could not come up with any thing creative or witty like the rest of my group. Have you been to the blog to see all the really cool things that were done? So, I went for pretty and pretty simple. The background fabrics are my hand dyed silks. The geometric forms are organza. I love the way the background colors shine through. It has a painterly feel, I think. And sort of wonky, like me.

This afternoon, I wrangled the cross quilt into submission to prepare it for quilting. That will be my next project. I have to do some house work tomorrow. We will have a house guest for the next few days. He is a musician from Montreal who will play in the Baroque Orchestra for the Trinity Christmas Consort. He apparently dresses in 18th century attire. It will be an interesting experience. I am going to try to get a photo to share!!

Rainy Day Shelter

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

As promised, here is my piece for the Shelter challenge for the 12 X 12 blog. I had seen a photo of a red umbrella taken from above so that you saw the top of the umbrella, some boots and a rainy sidewalk. So that was my initial inspiration. I was trying to find a fabric that looked umbrella-ish, and I found myself with more than one umbrella. I decided to go for a more abstract collage of umbrellas rather than a realistic representation. I was also going to embellish with paint, Angelina and beads and decided to “keep it simple, stupid!!” Here is one of the rejected umbrellas on the back of the piece.

a

Be sure to go over to 12 X 12 to see all the wonderful pieces — such a variety of process and themes.

The Other Shelter Piece

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Tomorrow (October 1) is the reveal for the latest 12 X 12 challenge, Shelter. I will post the final piece I did for that in the morning. Tonight, I want to share the piece I did first and that I ultimately rejected for the challenge.

I am not sure whether I have mentioned on my blog that I am doing a solo show based on our trip to Israel in May. The title will be Holy Land Pilgrimage: A Quilter’s Journal. I plan to show a page from my journal with a photo and an accompanying fiber piece based on that experience. So, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and do a piece for the challenge which I could also have in the show. I love architecture and I was enamored with so much of what I saw in Israel.

The houses that climbed up hillsides and seemed to be built one atop the other was of special interest to me. Land is at a premium. The flat land is kept free for agriculture.The houses were mainly neutral and unadorned. There were many gray concrete structures which were unfinished and were add-ons to existing homes or built right next to them. Our guide told us that when a Palestinian family got enough  money, they would start building a structure and just keep working on it over the years as money became available. In general, the Palestine homes are very simple structures, with no roof. The Israeli homes generally have the red roofs.

It always tickled me when I saw a house painted in a bright color, such as the orange one above or the following:

I decided to use this photo for my design. I took some liberties with the colors and house design.

Here is the piece that was driving me nuts for days on end. I think the problem was doing this in a small format. It would look much better as a larger piece and probably would be easier to create!

Be sure to go over to 12 X 12 to see all the shelter pieces.

I Loved This Man

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

Next to Mr C, Paul Newman has to be the one guy who could make my heart go pitter patter.

Here is the young hunk next to the older, ill, but still handsome, Paul. He was a true renaissance man — great actor, a kitchen guru, an entrepreneur, race car driver, liberal do-gooder, consummate and devoted husband and father.

The world has lost a great man with the most beautiful blue eyes. Rest in Peace…

*    *    *    *    *   *   *  *   *

I enjoyed the debate between Cranky and Cool, last night. I am biased, but I think Obama won this one. My son, Mark, and Jayme had a debate party/fundraiser last night. I think they all got a little tipsy playing a drinking game based on certain words or phrases by McCain!! I am so proud of them. This morning, they headed off to Reno, Nevada to campaign for Obama.

I have been having so much fun working on my Shelter #2. Even Mr C likes this one. I will explain the whole story soon. Today is Steph and Jack’s anniversary so we are going to go out to dinner with them and M & M.

Just want to say that we are having gorgeous fall weather. Hope it holds for next week-end — another story to be told.