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Archive for May, 2010

Busy Day

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

I have started the quilting on the Old Growth Forest piece.  The trees are not attached. I will stitch those down after I have finished the quilting. I am using a variegated thread that has all of the colors of the shibori fabric and does a wonderful job of creating a mystical forest  background.

I am leaving in the morning to go on a two day retreat in Central Oregon with my STASH group. It will rain, but we will have a great time, anyway!! I stitched up a couple of sleeves and finished machine stitching the facing for the aspen quilt. This will give me lots of hand sewing to do.  We will be near Sisters, OR, a great quilting town so that should provide some entertainment.

Look at who is hanging out in our front yard and driving Scooter nuts.

It seems to be the season of pairing off by the ducks from the Rhodie Garden. I have seen pairs here and there when I take my walks.

We have wifi at the house we have rented so I hope to be able to check in with a report on our frivolity.

Old Growth Forest Progress

Monday, May 24th, 2010

I have felted 11 trees for my old growth forest project. I am going to cut the background fabric and insert the trees. This piece needs to be at least 100 inches in diameter. The shibori piece is 30 X 20 so I need to stretch it out a bit!!

I have steamed the trees since I took this photo and they look a little more finished. My studio is in a state of disarray so I could not set up the studio lighting for a better photo. I hope to get some work done on them tomorrow. I also need to stitch the final facings for the Aspen quilt and the sleeve for the Beneath the Surface quilt. I want to take lots oh hand stitching when I go on a little retreat with the STASH group on Wednesday.

I am so happy that I stayed home over the week-end. I got so much done and had some good times with Mr C. It was fun working in my studio while he finished painting it. I can put things back in order (when I have time). I was also able to have the family over for Sunday supper. I always love some time with them. Mia loves my Aspen quilt. Says she wants it. LOL

This Could Get Expensive

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

These are a work in progress — the felted tree trunks. I am having lots of fun. I went to the sewing machine shop this morning to look at embellishing machines or to buy needles. After talking to the guy, I decided that if I get one, I want the 7 needle Babylock embellisher so I think I will try to fin one that is used. I bought a ten pack of needles — $30!! I broke two this morning. Argh! I hope that as I get more proficient, I will not be breaking as many.

I was given a bag of natural fleece by one of the guild members.

I have used some of this for shading on the trunks.

Mr C has been painting my studio while I have been needle felting while Scooter keeps an eye on things. The good news is that the painting is almost finished. The bad news is that my studio looks like this.

The center posts still need to be painted. We are not sure if they should be green or the color of the woodwork, which is an off white. I am thrilled with how the studio looks. Way back there on my design wall, you can see that I am starting another aspen piece.

I think I need to do some touch up on the background.

I am happy that I stayed home with Mr C. I have accomplished quite a bit and even got a hair cut this afternoon. Now, we are going out to dinner. Life is good.

This and That

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Yesterday, I went over to Washington State to the Camas library to see the Bird’s Eye View Show that is hanging there for the month of May in  The Upstairs Gallery. That is my Prairie Fields which you see as you get off the elevator.

It is a nice space with nice natural light. Camas is a quaint town with a paper mill smell. The library is very nice and state of the art.

This is a view down into the library from the gallery.

My other quilt is hanging on the back wall.

If you click on this you can get a better look. That is Meander in the center on the back wall.

I had an epiphany after my little show a couple of weeks ago and after looking at this show. I need to work larger. The work I do needs to be BIG!! I am quite happy with the Aspen quilt. I think it will make a nice impact.

That being said, the piece I am working on now will not be so big. I am constrained by the size of the shibori piece I am using. (See! That is a problem. I use my art cloth. I need to make it bigger!!)

Anyway, I am doing an abstract of an old growth forest using this felted roving and a shibori background.

Here is my beginning attempt at felting trees with moss.

I broke the needles on my embellishment attachment so I have done more work on it with the hand needle punch. I like how it looks. I made a stupid beginner’s error – nuff said!!

Instead of buying new needles, I may buy a dedicated embellisher tomorrow morning.  I really like the possibilities of using felted roving in some of my work.

Last month I blogged about sharing our favorite books at the HFD meeting. I finally got the list of books.

Chris:     Fine Art Quilts ’97

Helene:  a book on Chinese art

Folk Tales of the Amur (primarily for the illustrations)

Designing from Nature by Dendel, 1978

Caroline:  Textile Translations by Maggie Grey

Deanna:  Quilt of Belonging by Bryan, 2006

Catherine:  Hundertwasser by Rand

Georgia:  Inspired to Stitch by Springall, 2005

Zee:       The Artist’s Way by Cameron

12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women

Heart Steps by Cameron

Patsy:   Frontier by L’Amour ’84

Gerrie:   Abstraction in Art and Nature by Hale, 1972

The Meaning of Trees by Hageneder

Oregon:  Images of the Landscape by Terrill

Teresa:   Design: a Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists and Craftspeople by Aimone

Diane:    Nature’s Studio by Colvin, 2005

Bonnie Halfpenny:  The Map as Art, by Harmon

Vickie:   When Wanderers Cease to Roam by Swift

Ila:        Quilt National 2003

Amy:    Bird by Bird by LaMott

Art and Fear by Bayles and Orland

Stitch Magic by Beaney & Littlejohn

Maarja:  The Creative Habit by Tharp

The Creative Artist by Leland

Shirley:  The Uncommon Quilter by Williamson 2007

Mary Goodson:  Surface Design for Fabric by Proctor & Lew

Laura Jaszkowski:  Art and Fear by Bayles and Orland

Organizing for the Creative Person by Lamping & Lehmkuhl, ’93

Mary Arnold:  Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Edwards

Bonnie:   Nancy Crow:  Quilts and Influences

The Art of Richard Diebenkorn

I was intrigued by the book, Designing from Nature.  was able to find it on Amazon for about $4. It is a nice little source book for using forms from nature in art.

I guess you can tell that I did not make it to Eugene to take the workshop with Jason Pollen. Mr C really needed me to be around this week-end and since I am going on retreat with the STASH friends next week, I felt it was a good thing to have peaceful week-end at home.

I leave you with a photo of the beautiful eggs that I purchased at the Farmer’s Market –

Leafing Out

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Here is a photo of a branch of aspen leaves. I love their gracefulness. I decided that I wanted to make my leaves go off the edges which meant either cropping in on the sides or making more leaves. I am done making leaves. I will need to dye more fabric to make more leaves.

I took a deep breath and trimmed the aspen quilt to the final dimensions which is about 43 X 54 inches.

Adding more leaves let me keep that lovely red area in the lower left corner. I still need to add the facing and the stitch on the leaves that fall off the edges.

Tomorrow, I am going to see the Bird’s Eye View show at the Camus Library. Reva, Gale and I have not had a chance to see it yet. Then I need to pack up for 3 days in Eugene where I am taking a class from Jason Pollen, Professor and Chair of the Fiber department at the Kansas City Art Institute and past president of the SDA Board. The class is titled Igniting the Creative Spark.

I just checked my supply list. I think I need to make a little shopping trip tomorrow.