Got my MoJo back!

I have been having a number of very good days in the studio.

I started a class given online by Elizabeth Barton on creating a series through Quilt University. I have long been an admirer of her work and since I have been off my art lately, I felt this would be a good thing to do in order to get me focused again.

Her lessons have been good, especially helpful for me are the parts about starting a series and how to create a series.  I did a number of exercises to warm up and have settled on a series now called "Intersecting Triangles". Originally I did a bunch of thumb nails and then did a bunch of paper collages using various shades and tints from black to white. Then, last week while I was in Pacific Grove for six days, I did 14 small fused samples that are 6 x 6". So when I returned home I rushed out and bought three shades of gray cotton and washed it and was ready to do.  Ironed fusing on and away I went, cutting backing, batting and various shades of background fabric. Thursday I had gotten one piece that is 22 x 22" fused.

Today I did the quilting on it and then did the cutting and fusing on number 2, and quilted it.  Both still need to have their binding put on.  And then I started in on number 3, cutting, fusing, and then quilting.  I am half way there on the quilting.

 This is number 1 which was done exactly like the small sample which was 6 x 6.




















And this is number 2.  I am really having fun with these and have tons of ideas of ways to take this series.  I am also enjoying working in black and white instead of color, for a change, but the series will grown to incorporate color and printed fabrics.  We will have to see just where this all goes.












I have also been busy getting the facings done on this quilt which is rather large.  It is fused and then very heavily stitched.  The shapes have satin stitching around them.

And,this is my Grand Canyon Topo map...it is almost six feet tall.  The green is the Colorado River which has created the canyons.  It was great fun to go back to the Grand Canyon a couple of weeks ago and have my sense of color confirmed.  I used strips of hand dyed fabrics in colors I have seen at the Grand Canyon, and then, working from an actual topographical map I started stitching.  This was started last fall before I broke by arm.  Then when I was ready to start working on it again, I couldn't find it after the move from my Oakland studio to my new home studio.  When I did find it again, Doug had broken his leg to it took me a while to figure out where I had left off on the map but I am so happy it is finished.


So, the ideas are flowing, the time is working, I am very healthy and eager to work.  What could be better than that!



I have noticed on my stats that I have a large number of visitors from Russia.  This fascinates me. If you are one of those visitors, would you please leave a comment?  I would love to find out how you got here!

A Joyful Week

I have spent the past five days with a very nice group of about 30 women who get together each year at Asilomar for our own retreat.  We arrived on Sunday to beautiful weather, got settled in and started sewing.

I did not want to work on any original art as I find it too distracting in a room with a lot of people.  So I sewed pastel squares together to make a quilt for my niece's two year old daughter who never got a baby quilt from me.  She is also expecting another baby so I need to get a baby quilt made for that one too.  But I did finish Emi's quilt top and it won't take long to sandwich it and quilt it and send it on its way.

Monday was again absolutely beautiful and we took a short road trip into Pacific Grove to Back Porch Fabrics to load up on fabric we didn't need.  But I found some of the Sagritto line fabric and decided that I would do something with it.  So bought a bunch and away I went for the next twelve hours and got that top made by Tuesday morning.  Another beautiful day! 

Another field trip to another fabric store to see what else we didn't need.  Found some fun fabrics for a baby quilt and who knows what else but it sure was pretty.  Came back and finished up a simple top using a bunch of Kaffee Fassett fabrics that I had made a small quilt top with last year (and just quilted a week ago!) but this is very different and is in the "Modern Quilt" vein....ie., lots of white and a very simple design.  Then decided it was time to start working on some studies for my class with Elizabeth Barton.

Instead of doing collages in paper, I started doing a series of small quiltlets that are 6 x 6 inches on have either a black, white, or gray background and use only one circle and triangles of different shades of black to white (which just includes three shades of grey).  Did a bunch and then stopped to listen to Gail from Back Porch Fabrics as she came to show us some new stuff, including a scarf made from sari silk which needed to be ironing and then attached to a sticky water soluble sheet and then stitched.  Got mine done and rinsed out and even dried. I did the scarf today.  And then I started another one...this time using shot cotton which I tore into strips and will then lay out the same way at home.

Wednesday was another beautiful day and we spent some time wandering along the coast line in Pacific Grove which is just stunning.  Then back to sewing and working on various projects.

We got some rain and thunder and lightening on Thursday but it was still pretty nice.  The evenings have been cool but the days have been absolutely delicious!  The food is good and we get a brisk little  1/4 mile hike to get our food three times a day...it gets us off of our chairs.

Did some more of my triangle exercises and will post them after I get home and can take pictures and upload them.  I am having fun thinking about all the what ifs? and then trying them out.

Tomorrow morning we leave and return home.  After dropped off my three friends, I will need to do some fast laundry, pack up, find some food and load my husband, grandson Ashton and I in to the motorhome and then we take off for the weekend at Yosemite.  My daughter, her husband and our other grandson Jacob will be going also, just a little bit later.  What a wonderful time to be there.  They will be returning home on Sunday and who knows if we might stay an extra day or not.  I do feel the sewing machine calling me at home and tomorrow night I get another lesson from Elizabeth Barton so I won't be able to download it until we do get home.

Look for bunches of photos of what I have been doing early next week! Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Returning

It is now October and I have been away from my blog for the past ten months.  I have felt some guilt but then I knew that no one would be interested in the trivial doings of my life this past period of time.

As I was starting to get back on my feet with the use of my arm again, I had started working on a new piece based on a topographical map of a part of the Grand Canyon. Fitting a part of the Grand Canyon required a fairly big piece which this is.  But then,

My husband, in a fit of trying to get work down on the construction of the new garage and studio, was up working at 10 pm one night and, instead of moving the ladder over, he reached over, lost his balance and fell 8 feet to the floor, shattering one lower bone and breaking the other.  This resulted in a trip by ambulance to the hospital, and then a couple of days stay after surgery.  He returned home in great pain and trying to lay down on the couch but could not get comfortable.  So, it was time to move a recliner into the living room as well as to get a small TV.

One week later from the break, he was back in the ambulance headed to emergency because of severe pain in his back.  He had developed about 15 pulmonary embolisms which required another stay in the hospital and blood thinners.  Then I had to keep my patience for the next couple of months before he became much more mobile and could get around with crutches.  Of course there was home nursing care for a while, home physical therapy appointments and visits from the clinic that supervises the blood thinners.  Once he could get around the down two steps with his crutches, it was time to take him back and forth to all the appointments.  Needless to say, not much got done around here.

But time marched on, he healed, but still can't walk for long, and I started back to working on my art. But I found myself blocked.  I worked periodically on the Grand Canyon which has tons of stitching in it but my shoulder would tire.

So, not able to settle down into art, I started moving into my new studio and with the help to two strong young men and a big truck, we made two trips from the Oakland studio to home and they were able to get everything upstairs.  I had already had a Ikea-putting-together party when we got lots of shelving, and cabinets built with the help of great friends and my two helpers!

Then it was time to start organizing and getting things put away.  It was nice until I started moving things in from my old studio at home which still held a lot of stuff!

Still couldn't get into making art so I made two baby blankets for the granddaughter-to-be, and started cleaning out a bin that was full of partially made panel quilts, etc and just started quilting them.  Nothing fancy, some pieced things, some printed panels, some old class work, etc.  But it felt good to see the pile grow.  I still have about ten more to finish after finishing about ten of them.  The finished ones will go to various people and are also great to hang on to for the baby that shows up around church.

And then we were off in July for a seven week journey to Michigan and back for the birth of our granddaughter, Myrnaleah.  We wandered through northern California, the eastern side, eastern Oregon and Washington, and then traveled on US 2 which is just below the Canadian border. Went through the panhandle of Idaho, into Montana, through North Dakota and into Minnesota and dropped down to the cabin of a cousin to spend several days on the lake.  Then off to the north coast of MN, across Wisconsin, and into the upper peninsula of Michigan. Our granddaughter was born while we were up there but by C Section so we took our time headed down to Lakeview, northeast of Grand Rapids.  We arrived and the other grandmother had to return to work.  This was her first grandchild so we felt we really didn't need to rush since she was there.  We stayed for two weeks and just enjoyed ourselves and got to know this sweet little girl.

And then we headed home via Rout 66 through Illinois, Missouri, 13 miles of Kansas, Oklahoma, the panhandle of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and back to California.  We have now settled back in to home and I am still trying to get moved in to the new studio...this will take a while.  But I have finished the Grand Canyon and another pieces but both are awaiting their finishing hand sewing of the facings.

To get myself jump started and to get that focus and disciple back, I am taking Elizabeth Barton's online class through Quilt University about working in series.  It is fun to be back in a class setting and seeing all the ideas the other students bring to the group.  There is a lot of sharing of websites about various artists off all sorts of media and I am really enjoying this.  I am also enjoying the structure and exercises we have been doing...feels good to get back into that groove.

But, during all this time I have been doing a bunch of paper collages as creative exercises. I have an art magazine which has beautiful heavy paper with lots of announcements about shows which use wonderful colors in their displays.  I have been tearing these papers out as I go since the magazine is over half an inch thick and this gets rid of some of the paper and our of my house.  I have kept inspiration notebooks for years and always clip things that I like to paste into the books.

So, I thought I would share a few of these collages.  None are for sale, they are all done in a sketchbook and are back to back so I would not even think about selling them as I was working.
Hope your e

                            

Just fun things to do...usually torn paper. there is a shadow on one side from the scanner.  I am reminded of how much a prefer things that are clean and simple.

The building continues

Construction has continued at a pretty fast pace...This is where we were just before Christmas.  In the picture below you can see the walls going up on the upstairs part. Everything is braced at this point although sheer wall is already up on part on the lower section (sheer walls keep things straight during earthquakes and provide more strength to the building)

My grandson Ashton who is constantly finding great things to do on the construction site

The studio is beginning to take shape...this photo is taken from the very front and looks back...the south is to the left and the back is facing west. The garage is attached to only part of the house so it has created a small storage area between the house and the new garage wall.

This is the view of the studio from the middle part near the stairs.  The open area on the right will remain open to accommodate the RV.  The room toward the back will be my sewing room, at least that is what I am planning at this time. The area to the right now has a window and the wall on the right will be a 12 foot design wall. Across the room from the design wall with be bookcases for fabric storage with a large 4 x 8' work table, cutting area and ironing station.

Ashton is busy building his own buildings.

And, ta da!  my sink!  What a beauty!  My husband will put in some shelves on the bottom right that will pull out.  Under the sink is storage

And here you can see just how big that sink is...although I know you have nothing to compare it to.

With all the construction going on, I am having a hard time focusing on any art work....all I can think about is dyeing fabric and doing deconstructed silk screening as now I will have the sink big enough to handle the silk screens and the space to have everything together in on place.  I won't have to drag things home to wash after batching the fabrics....All I can think of is getting in to some jars of new dyes from Dharma!

So much has been happening

A very long overdo update on what has been happening.

Christmas was wonderful and spent with the immediate family for a change.  My father, my daughter and her husband and their two boys, my son and his wife from Ohio....who is now pregnant (my daughter-in-law I mean!)

Got over the cold and am now feeling well again.  Back at the gym to try and build some strength back up...two months in a recliner and a month of a rotten cold have taken their toll on me.  My shoulder is doing much better and some strength exercising of the arms is helping this muscle to remember what they are for.  And about time, too!

In late November we began construction on a new oversized attached garage which will house cars, our motorhome and lots of space for my husband to have a great metal and wood workshop.  I am hoping to be able to park my car in the garage for a change.  In California we are storage deprived as we don't have basements nor attics....and relatively few closets.

So, the big exciting thing is that we are including a new studio for me which will be somewhere between 800-900 square feet.  I will finally be able to move out of my Oakland studio and work completely here at home.  My current studio as home will become our family room with TV and our older, smaller TV room will now become a part of my new studio which will be my office, genealogy stuff, etc.  The new studio has a wet working area, a small bathroom, a hugh, wonderful commercial sink, a design area, lots of storage, and a sewing area where I can set up two sewing machines and their big tables.

So the foundation has been formed and the concrete pumper is working away....8 truckloads of concrete! Fortunately, this was done during a time when were

Then the huge crane comes (it isn't even extended out yet) to unload and set the steel I beams for the moment....earthquake country and this garage is being built to withstand anything!

Here to two huge vertical beams and be bolted to the foundation and the cross pieces are being lifted into position.  

And then the welder spent three and a half days welding all the pieces together that had been bolted together initially. He must be twenty feet up in the air!

I have many more photos to share and I will eventually share some of the collages I have been doing.  For some reason I can't get my cable into my camera so I can download more, which include pictures of my sink and my upstairs just framed in...

So later...

A long time ago....

I was so on a roll!  Went off for a week at Asilomar in Pacific Grove with a wonderful group of women and spent a lot of time doing some hand embroidery on some new pieces and then decided to make a very simple (modern) quilt....you know, one where you don't have to match anything and there is lots of space around the fabrics!  But what fun it was to do that and to get it done very quickly.  It just needs to be quilted now.

And then, on Monday, October 8, I took a nose dive off the next to the bottom step on my stairs and landed right on my left shoulder.  It took my husband 20 minutes before we could get me up off the floor and off to the hospital where it was confirmed that I had broker the left humeral head bone.  This is the rounded top part of the big upper arm bone.  Can't be casted. Just a sling and lots of pain killers.  Oh, did it hurt.  My poor husband has done wonderful duty caring for the invalid.  Could not get dressed or undressed, wore practically nothing since it hurt too much and lived on the recliner since I could not sleep in bed.  Well, six full weeks later and I am still in the recliner but left the sling after three weeks, and now start PT on Monday. I can do more and more but can't extend my left arm very much and certainly can't use weight with it.  So we move back into the rebuild mode.

This is why you haven't heard from me.

But, on a positive note, I have caught up with several DVD's about quilting and art and several workshops I have down loaded.  My good friend Carol Suto took me to my studio two weeks ago so I could play with printing deli paper with some new 12" x 12" stamps I had made using fun foam which is sticky and works well on light weight acrylic.  Had a blast and then made three more stamps which I went down to try our a few days ago.

Going to the studio is difficult. I am very limited and have only started driving again a week ago.  I have to be very careful because I don't have full range of motion in my left arm.

I couldn't go to New York to teach which I was supposed to do five days after my fall.  I was really unhappy about that but Kim has given me a new date in early 2013.

Will have pictures for you shortly.  We have broker ground for our new RV garage with a new studio for me upstairs.  Hoping to pour concrete for the foundation maybe Friday or Monday.

My arm is now very tired from typing this little bit.  Will try to get photos up tomorrow....

Continuing to Catch Up

I have been continuing in my quest to get unfinished work off of the old piles and in to the finished piles....which are all on top of an extra bed...so many that if I need something on the bottom it is quite hard to get out!

But anyway, enough of my woes!  This is a fused piece that I did several years ago and I had wonky edges on it (on purpose). The edges curved but it never hung flat because I did not plan the curves correctly.  So I cleaned it all up, cut off portions, and refaced it which I like much better.

Summer Time

Yesterday I spent several hours creating sleeves for three other pieces that I have previously shown on this blog. It is really nice to get these things done.

Now, all that needs to happen on these is to put labels on them.  I have even been putting them into my catalog!  Will wonders never cease. Oh, I do hate all the details that have to be done for the business end.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is a reception for a new show opening called Fabric Art/Art Quilts Plus, at the Cinema Place Gallery at 1061 B St. Hayward, CA.  There are quite a few pieces of work in this show and I have two of my new pieces in it.  The reception is from 5-7pm and the show runs until November 12 if you are in the area. There are many northern California members of SAQA in the show.  Lots of great work!

So, I have sandwiched the Grand Canyon/Colorado River piece and am about ready to draw in some basic shapes. I have spent a lot of time studying the topo map of the Grand Canyon and have decided on a portion to work with which I think has very interesting shapes.  I am impressed with myself that I have been patient, have quilted three quilts created by women at the Federal Correctional Facility in Dublin, CA, have been working on a piece for the altar at church, and have worked with a small group of teens at church to create a new stole for our new assistant priest who is heading up the family ministries.  Just have to finish each of the those for church and then can get them in to be used.

Next week a small group of us are going to Asilomar for the week of free time with the sewing machines.  I am trying to figure out just what I want to do with this time....hmmmmmm...what shall I do with four full days away from home?  Well, you will just have to wait and see.

Your help is needed

I have a piece that I created a couple of years ago that I made wonky sides on but it never hung correctly and was only shown once at a guild show.  I have now removed the facings, trimmed it straight and refaced it.  All I need to do now is give it a final pressing and then photograph it so I can post it here...promise I will do so very soon.

My topo map arrived for the Grand Canyon piece and I have been fascinated as I study it.  There is so much information contained on these maps.  I have found entries to the north side of the Canyon that I didn't know existed and now hope to get back there before too long to check it out.  But I have been planning this quilt in my head, which is the way I usually do things.  I have such a clear image of what I want to do that it almost feels done....but I guess that really isn't the way it works, is it?

However, I have been busy doing some quilting on community quilts.  One of our members from the Amador Valley Quilters has worked with the women at the Federal Correctional Facility in Pleasanton for a number of years. She brings in fabrics and the women make quilts.  Since they did not purchase the fabric, they can not keep the tops they have made so they donate them to the guild's community quilt project.  This December we anticipate giving away about 900 quilts to various organizations within the community where there is need. So I am just doing a very small part.

But on to more important things.

Two years ago I went with six other members of my church, All Saints Episcopal Church from San Leandro, CA, to Uganda where we spent two weeks, most of which was working physically at a small orphanage which we had been providing some support to over the years. At that time, I made  a plea to people to help support this project and offered 20% off on any of my work and the payment would be made to the church and I would not get any of the money. This then afforded a very nice tax deduction for those who purchased my art work. I was able to raise over $3500 from generous purchases and donations.

When I returned I raised a little bit more and was able to send money to purchase three treadle sewing machines.  They had an instructor to show the kids and staff how to use the machines. I had hoped to be able to follow up with further fund raisers to help them but was not able to for a while.

Which comes to today. All Saints has been trying to work with Sunrise House to become more self-sufficient. Uganda has over 4,000,000 children who have become orphaned as a result of the very serious AIDS epidemic in Africa. Sunrise House has, had various times, had up to ninety children there but now can only afford to help about 25.  They are having serious financial difficulties and need immediately $3000 in order to get the children into school. School costs each student about $50  for a term of 3 months, plus money for their books, paper, pencils and uniforms.

I am again making the offer of 20% off for any of my art work with a check made payable to All Saints Episcopal Church.  If you are interested in making a purchase, please contact me first to confirm availability before sending any money.  Many of my newer works are on my blog and have not been updated on to my website so search here also.

One of the girls after making a craft project together

Our Fr. Rob on the left with boys from the house all ready to do major clean up on a fire destroyed room prior to repairing and repainting.

The cook on the left with one of the kids bringing a load of bananas down to the cook house on the right. Cooking is done over an open wood fire.  On the left are the latrines for the house. In the background is the town of Fort Portal, Uganda.

My thanks to any of your who are able to help support this effort.

Another one is now done

I am waiting for the map of the Grand Canyon to come from  USGS so that I can figure out the right contours for the Colorado River in my Grand Canyon piece that is waiting for me.

For once, I am not feeling impatient to start. I guess having several things to finish up allows for that! I have just finished the facing on one which is about 106" wide and about 48" high.  It still needs to have a sleeve put on.
It is one of my ridge series and hasn't been titled yet....it really is amazing to see what I have sitting around in various piles of things. And I have given you a close up.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time making sleeves for about 5 pieces.  And during all this time I have quilted two large quilts for our community quilts at my home guild, Amador Valley Quilters.  One of our members works with the women at the Federal Correction Facility in Dublin and I have agreed to quilt a bunch of the quilts that the women have made.  When done, those will go into the batch for community quilts...over the years this project has grown quite a bit and we now give away about 700 quilts at Christmas time to various agencies in the community.

Meanwhile, I continue to do my collages with found paper and am really enjoying doing them. They are all done in a book where they will stay as they are done back to back. I enjoy looking back at my color combinations and choice of composition.  Some day I will scan some and post them. It is a nice way to start the day.

And, for any of you who are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have a couple of new pieces that will be showing in Hayward at the Cinema Place Gallery, 1061 B St., Hayward, CA from Sept 21 until Nov 12.  There will be a reception on Wed, Sept 28 from 5-7 pm. Come on down! There are a lot of SAQA artists from the area showing in this show.  It should be quite interesting.

Another thing on the burner.  We are currently interviewing and discussing building plans with several contractors to begin finally to build our additional garage to hold our motorhome and it will have a space above for me to have a much larger studio at home.  I have the scale drawing all ready and little cut out pieces of furniture (4 x 8' plywood tables) which I move around.  I will have my own outside entrance which will be nice for open studios in our area.  I am really looking forward to this since my studio at home house all the household finance stuff genealogy stuff and more stuff and more stuff.  I have been going through things and filled up our recycling bin yesterday with a lot of paper stuff...old bills, etc...all the shredded paper went into our greens bin and get composted but the sheet paper goes off to recycling.  It feels good but there is still a lot of stuff.  I am going to have to hire young men to move my other studio stuff to the new studio when the time comes because I sure can't haul everything up stairs!  Once I am in there, I may hardly ever come out...oh yeah, dinner time and bed time....but it will be especially nice to start working on my collages first thing in the morning before I do anything else, and in my pj's too!  Feels so decadent!

Back to sewing sleeves on....

And it keeps on coming

my goodness, I spend the day at the studio and then come home and do my hand sewing while I am watching Masterpiece Theater...what is wrong with that....oh, did I say my husband went up to the cabin without me? That's why I get to sit in my comfy chair and watch MP Theater!  He can't sit through the commercials and has to hold on to that silly remote...so, I come and go when I feel like it and don't have to worry about fixing a real dinner...just get out the lettuce I have cut up, add some chicken slices that I bought ready cooked and cut and veg out....oh, life doesn't get any better! LOL

So, anyway, I have completed Roots:

And then I finished Lone Tree which is based on my trip to Uganda...the tree is a photo I took while I was at the Queen Elizabeth National Park

 

 

 

 And finally, the beginning of a new piece which will be the next one in my River Series, The Grand Canyon.  It will show a topo map of the Colorado River as it runs through the Grand Canyon.  It is ready to sandwich and then start quilting.  It, too, is pretty large. I don't know why but all of a sudden I am working really large...probably a result of doing so many small things the past year!

 Meanwhile, at my chair at home is another very large piece, about 98 inches long and about 48 inches high which almost has all the facing sewn down and then another piece which needs the facing sewn down.

It is really fulfilling to get these things finished.  I am feeling a great sense of accomplishment as the pieces that were around I had just done the quilting and left it...never doing the final finishing. But, as I decided I wanted to get back in to showing work, I felt I needed to get some of these things done. But it hasn't stopped me from doing new work. I am getting much clearer about what I want to do...some time ago I did several pieces that included a lot of silkscreened trees and I have decided that those are just too busy for me...I like my things relatively simple....except for the quilting, that is!

And the work keeps coming

I have really been working hard.

I have completed two more quilts, one which was just done, River 2, and another that I just finished up, Safe Harbor.

Below is River 2.  I seemed to have so much fun sewing strips together that I did it with some more fabric and then did all over quilting of the river.  Then I used gesso lightly to help bring all the colors together.  I really like this and have enjoyed doing it....I think I see some more coming.

This is Safe Harbor, a quilted painting. It is about 60 inches x something else close to that....

 

I have been on a finish everything spurt of energy.  And I have been working large.  I had a quilt I had done some time ago and had made the edges wonky and it just never hung right.  So off went the facing, I trimmed everything square and now I need to resew the new facing.  I also had another small quilt that I had done earlier this year and had just tossed it aside after doing the top and the quilting...out it came and now it is all bound...will get a picture soon as I really like it.

And then, more photos to come, I have been doing a lot of collages...about a collage a day. Sometimes I miss a day but then make up for it. It is all with torn, found paper and I am just working with color and shape and composition.  I won't bore you with a new piece everyday on my blog....I just get too busy to blog.  And besides, I need to pull the scanner out once I find a clear place on my desk to put it.

Oh well, some more in another day....the juices are really flowing...I hope no one gets any spittle on them!  (That was a funny!)

Big Blue is Done!

I have finally finished my big blue quilt.  It is about 7.5 feet across and almost 5 feet high.  I am really happy with this piece.  It is square but I haven't edited it to fix that part since this is not a finished photo anyway as my thread file is in the picture!

It feels good to have this done.  I really like the layers I have and am already thinking about the next one which I should be able to start next week....

A Leap of Faith

 I have been steadily working on my blue quilt.  It is 4 x 8 feet and is very heavily quilted with orange thread.  I felt that it needed more so I took some red-orange dupioni silk and fused it, creating circles.

 

You can see how heavily quilted this is.....

 

 And a couple of other circles....there are a couple of circles stitched only also in the quilting.

 I added some negative leaf shapes in the stitching and also added red-orange silk leaf shapes.

Well, I lived with it overnight and then returned today after thinking about it and I had shown it to three very good friends to get their feelings about the piece.  It needed more so I decided that I would add painted circles but I would apply the paint with a small nozzeled squeeze bottle.  It took me a while to get the red-orange color just right and then to get the mixture smooth enough and of the right consistency to evenly come out of the squeeze bottle.

And then the leap of faith...the entire quilt was finished with the quilting and now I was about to use paint to add more circles....I had to trust in my vision and just go for it and hope that all worked out just find.

They add an additional texture and continue the circle motif further around on the piece.  I like the way the paint has gone on and it should dry with a raised surface.  This is all on top of the quilting.

So tomorrow is the moment of truth when it goes back up on the design wall after the paint has completely dried and then I can step back and see if I am satisfied or not...

Catching up and thoughts on art quilts

I have been slowly working away on the blue quilt but I was away for over a week as I went to the Nebraska State Quilt Guild Convention in Kearney.  I was teaching three classes there and had a great time.  It takes a couple of days to get ready to go, including shipping three boxes of surface design things and ordering some more to have shipped directly there, getting everything packed, etc.  One day is spent getting there and resting up, then the next three days were busy teaching. Then, on Sunday early I flew out of Kearney, headed back to Denver and then on to Oakland and home.  As I get older it takes longer and longer to get over the jet lag, even if it is only two hours worth.  Going from East to West seems to always be harder.

I haven't been able to spend much time in the studio this week as the week was taken up with various family things....taking my dad out to the exchange to get his cigarettes, babysitting a couple of times, sleeping, unpacking, etc. 

When I did get down there, I was doing some sewing on the blue quilt but also doing some picking out of sewing because I wasn't happy with the way a couple of things were going.  Still have picking out of stitches to do.

But then, I looked down at the floor and saw an orange piece of thread under the wheel of my chair. I tried to pull it out but it was stuck so I turned the chair upside down and started cutting and pulling thread out from the five rollers of the chair and this is what I got:

There was  a large piece of tulle caught under there also.  I had to really work at it for some time and there is still thread in the rollers....

But, I also wanted to share some thoughts about the "rules" of art quilting versus the "rules" of traditional quilts.

I talked about this in my design class in Nebraska...there are many reasons why certain rules exist in the world of traditional quilting...for instance, seam allowances are pressed to the side and not open, because quilts used to be pieced together by hand stitching so there was only one thread and pressing the seam open would put too much stress on the thread.  So when we begin to machine quilt we just followed the same rule...Edges must be straight, piecing correctly done, corners matching, etc....you know what I mean.

Then art quilting began as a new direction in quilting.  For many years art quilts were judged and compared to traditional quilts and the expectations were the same of both...stitched mitered corners is one that always gets me....why they need to be stitched I have never understood. But judges mark the piece off if it hasn't been done.

In my class one of my students was telling me about trying to make art quilts and that she pieces or appliques everything.  I suggested she might want to fuse and she was somewhat horrified, feeling that fusing might be cheating.  Thus began my discussion about the difference between art "quilts" and traditional quilts.

Art quilts are made for the wall, not to cuddle up under, to fondle or to keep you warm. They will not be washed.  Thus, many of the rule of traditional quilting just aren't necessary.

Use any method you want to attach fabric or anything else you want to put on your art....staple, fuse, pierce, skewer, hand sew, machine sew, glue, whatever you need to do to help you create your artistic statement. Put your heart in to what you are doing and let your voice come out.  You do not need to always use bindings....facings work if you want a finished edge, straight stitching along the edge to keep it all together works, zig zagging the edges works, satin stitching the edges works, putting a hand running stitch along the edge works.  Mounting your work on paper is great, or on canvas stretched on stretcher bars or other fabric, hanging with a sleeve, mounting on plastic, mounting on a panel, what ever works to show off your work in the best manner for the style of work you have created. The work doesn't need to have three layers...how about just two?  or one?  oh, but then that becomes something else....fiber art or textile art.

The "rules" we do need to pay attention to are those of composition and design.  The elements of design help us to describe what is happening and to understand why it is happening....not working out the way you want? Turn to the elements and principles of design to try to figure it out. Let your voice be heard.  Say what you want to say in a manner that will be convey what you want your audience to hear. Interact with the audience, after all, art does not exist in a vacuum but needs to be responded to, to have a dialog with others, to convey your message, to cause people to stop and look and look again. The eye needs to move around the piece and find surprises and interesting little intersections along with places to pause and relax.

We also need to understand the difference between a "study", a "sketch" and a finished piece of work.  Many times I have seen what I would call a study hung as a finished piece of art.  I think the UK patchwork people fully understand the difference and keep many studies and sketches in their sketch books rather than showing them...a study which looks closely at a part of something, seeking to understand how it is all put together rather than creating a piece of art. A sketch is a quicker little jotting down of what has been seen and is not a fully finished piece of art. That doesn't mean that sketches aren't great but they are what they are. Rough, thoughts on going, unfinished, searching for understanding of the subject.  The finished piece should show all of that...

I have found that so many people in the "art quilting" world have come to art quilts via quilting.  They have a good understanding of putting it all together but not necessarily the understanding of how art is put together. I have seen work that artists in other mediums have done with fabrics, trying to make an "art quilt".  They get the art part but not the craftsmanship of the quilting or putting it all together. I read several art magazines each month and keep an eye on what is showing in galleries across the country and over seas....every once in a while fiber slips in but it is always called a painting...I have seen some stitched, gessoed and painted and hung on the wall with nails nailed through the piece but they are indeed art and the way they were put together is all a part of what makes them.  They are judged by art standards and not quilt standards.

If we want to be taken seriously in the art world, we need to leave the comfort of the quilting world and enter art shows....work can easily be entered as mixed media or textiles or fiber.  Some shows are exclusive to watercolors, or paintings or sculpture, where this work might not fit although I have questions about watercolors on fabric as opposed to paper....unless the rules specifically say it must be on paper....then we need to apply for that show.  But don't expect to get any judges' comments back because that doesn't happen in the art world. On the other hand, they won't care if you have stitched down the miter on your binding corner either!

So tomorrow it is back to problem solving on my blue piece and a week spent in the studio....what fun!

Three days in a row....will wonders never cease?

Well, started out the day with my artful journaling group at church and then went out to lunch with my good friend Carol.

By 1 pm I was at the studio, got the quilt pinned (with straight pins) and on to George's table.

 

You can see the the quilt fits nicely on the table and working with George is a dream.  There is no problem in doing a piece this size....I just have to roll it up and frankly, this piece is much easier than many of my others because it is just one layer or fabric (with seams), batting and backing. Usually I have multiple layers of fabric fused and painted fabrics which all makes the thing heavy and stiff to quilt.  But this is easy.  So started out making three circles, which I had to pick out half of one because I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. Then I started doing the heavy stitching 1/4" apart with sort of straight lines inside the circle.  I am doing this with orange thread.

And, just as I was really getting in to the swing of things, my husband called to say the planning department had our garage and studio plans okayed and we could pick them up.   Well, there went the studio time and off I went to pick up my husband and check book and then down to the county offices to hand out another $2000 for permits and fees....now we can actually start!  This has been in the planning for five years and it has taken us about 3.5 years to get it all through the planning department. We will be adding an oversize garage (we already have a 2 car one) so that we can park our RV in the garage.  The bonus is that over half of the space above the garage part will be my new studio.  This means, given time, I will be able to do all my work at home with ready water access and a washer and dryer in the studio (it is already in my home studio) and be able to work at night, or day, in my jammies or fully dressed in something nice.  I can pop in to add another layer of paint to something, come and go and work much more in my own rhythm...

Tomorrow is not a studio day, it is the grandson's day...so it is off to the zoo so we can be sure to see the lions, the spiders and all the other insects....Back in studio on Saturday! My husband can start getting the bids for the foundation and garage floor...my, how fun that will be!

My goodness but I am back again....

Will wonders never cease?  I spent a full day in the studio.  Arrived, and studied the blue strips hanging on the design wall.  I wanted to be finished with stitching strips....I love to work in a collage method and doing the sewing of 60" strips gets a little tiresome....

But, the piece wants to be bigger so bigger it got! It is now about 60 x 92" or something like that....

 

The only problem of doing something that big is having enough fabric around to do the backing in the same size.  Most of the time I dye about one yard of fabric and then end up cutting out parts of it....I dug deep into one of my bins and came out with enough fabric to piece the backing

 

Got that all sewn up and then ironed which was a major chore as it was hot in my studio and my ironing table is only 24 x 48" and my floors get really dirty.  Lots of road dirt and dirt off the overhead rail lines outside my studio create a problem....no matter how often I sweep!

So, once ironed and the big table cleared off, I lay out the backing, pulled down the big roll of cotton batting and plopped it down.  The trick is to get the batting cut to the right size and then layers correctly onto the backing without any wrinkles....of course, working by myself gets a little challenging to get things straight....couldn't pull anything but had to life gently into the air and let it float down....and then got the top on  

 

I had hoped, before coming in today, that I would get to the sewing part but that just didn't happen.  Had too much other sewing to do on the front and the back.  Ah well, it gives me more time to think about what it is that I am going to do.

Lest you think that I just make up everything as I go, let me assure you that I have been thinking about this piece for some time.

I love the work Deidre Adams but until I had actually seen her work in person, I had no sense on the depth of her work and the complexity. Of course, she stitches a number of various pieces of fabric together, frequently using a zigzag stitch and then paints the work.  There are layers of paint. At places you can see the original fabrics which add even more depth. But as much as I admire her work and would love to create work like hers, if I did it wouldn't be my work.  The problem is that her technique is so much a part of her voice in the creation of her work.

 So the feeling that I would like to paint a quilted piece will have to remain just that. Lately I have been doing work that is very heavily quilted and calls for further surface design.  I have one piece that I have painted a few of the circles in that have been stitched and I like the effect.

However, I have another idea of what to do once the quilting is done....

well, you just have to wait....

 

I keep disappearing!

I just can't seem to keep this blog going regularly! I so admire those that can, who offer words of wisdom on a daily basis, show you daily what they have accomplished, share their thoughts, etc...but sometimes I feel others really don't want to hear all my anguish and questions about my work, the times when it is all in my head and there is nothing ready to show yet, or the many other artists whose work I have been discovering on the web and all that stuff. Besides, I don't like to show very much what is in process.

But today I thought I would show you some process on a piece and the progress as I go. I am not quite sure how this will turn out but I am experimenting with several things to see what happens...so join the journey with me.

 

I have pulled out a pile of various blues that I dyed some time ago. And then the unplanned fun begins. I tear strips that are 60 inches long, one at a time and sew them, one next to another. Each time I take the time to iron the strip before sewing, and then carefully ironing the piece that I have just sewn, tear another strip and keep on going.

 

At one point I tear out a narrow piece of painted fabric which has a lot of red circles on it.  Of course, with just a narrow strip you don't see the circles but the small lines show up. This also introduces yellow and red into this monochomatic piece.

And this is where I stopped last night. I think I am going to add more pieces when I get back down to my studio.  I do have a plan in my head for all of this but you will just have to wait and see what happens with it....


And, in the meantime, here is my piece for Deep Spaces which will be opening soon. I will give you the dates and places a little later.

 Deep Space: My View

 

Deep Space: My view detail

so it is off to the studio I go.....see you later!