Teddi Munslow - Quilt Artist -Artist

Why I enjoy shibori

2012-01-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

I am so thankful that I was introduced to Color Hue dyes this past summer [Via an online class from Glennis Dolce-Shibori Girl Studios] along with dyeing on silk. I wish I would have known about these dyes while I was still teaching, in fact I did introduce a good ex-teaching buddy to Color Hue Dyes and her high school students produced some beautiful silk scarves last semester.
I love shibori as a quick art fix for me [mind you I do not mean the stitching step is quick it's the "Color Hue Dyes" that help make them feel like a quick art fix for me, they are so easy to use.]
I need a daily art fix if possible it feeds my soul it also helps to keep my arthritis and other body aches at bay. Reminder Art Therapy does work ;-)
Anyway enough chit chat. Here are photos of the steps I take to get the wonderful end results my shibori and color hue dyes create on silk.

First step is fold your silk and then stitch as desired

Second scarf stitched ready for next step

Various scarves stitched ready to pull threads

All 4 samples after pulling threads tightly, now ready to dye.

One example dyed was applied and it is dry, ready to remove threads

Some threads removed notice where the threads were pulled tightly it causes resist.

Most threads removed. Hint never used scissors near the silk when trying to remove threads.;-)
you could cause little nicks or cuts in the silk and end up being very disappointed.
Yes this was sadly a learned hint.

Another example threads pulled and silk dyed ready to remove threads.

Partial removal of threads, see how exciting each piece can be to open?

Almost completed

Isn't this pretty

I love the unexpected when creating with shibori.

Will leave you with a new experiment I am now trying my own screen printing and fabric dyes.
There is so much to explore and discover yet about using silk and Color Hue Dyes. ;-)

May each day bring you something creative to experience. ;-) Art is good for one's soul.

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration

2011-12-28T00:31:00.000-05:00

We drove all day through yucky rain, yet I'm glad to state it was NOT snow or ice. ;-) and we are home.
I found out my last handmade Christmas present made it's way to the recipient today so I can now post photos of what I managed to paint the week before my trip to MI.
I began making nanny chairs along with matching baby quilts about 6 years ago. The first two recipients were my nieces Christy and Carrie. The baby quilts w/matching hand painted "time out chairs" as we nick-named them due to the then popular 'Nannie TV Show' were for their girls Riley and Mya.
Since then I have made I think about 9 sets?? Well my nephew Ryan has a new son Mason and I made the baby quilt and it was given as the shower gift but I still owed them the chair.
So here it is along with a second chair I painted as a surprise Christmas gift for another couple:

I was in a time crunch so sadly set up shop in my dining room

yup my dining room

At the same time was working on another chair in my basement work area.
Notice my sketch book below with my ideas for while I work.

Mason's chair matches fabric from a baby quilt

I had picked up this bench a while ago
always had a feeling it could become something special
little did I know my son's good friends would have twins someday ;-)
So how's this for a "double time out chair" haha?
Got to say "better them then me "
I heard tonight it matches their room. ;-)

This is Mason's time out chair completed.

This is my grand-daughter "Charlotte" on Christmas day trying Mason's chair out

but let me clarify she was NOT in time out ;-)

So as I mentioned we are back home in VA, hubby and I had a wonderful Christmas holiday.
Next weekend we get to head to PA to see the rest of our grandchildren to celebrate with them a belated Christmas and a Happy New Year (we're baby sitting)….please stay tuned….

Yay! Reporting the Handmade gifts were appreciated by all...

2011-12-25T23:08:00.000-05:00

So Christmas 2011 has come and gone ;-( but happily can post that the creations I was able to complete in time to be given as gifts this year were well received…so now I can finally post some photos…
but my first photo is of something handmade that I was lucky enough to have received…mine is the red and green tree and the brown with gold belongs to Heather and Brian (my youngest son) both were made by Heather's mom Kim, I am so excited to have received one of the 6 she made this year.

Wine cork Christmas trees created by Kim
Next I will post a few photos of some of my creations along with a few photos of some of the recipients…

My wine cork creation for Brian and Heather (their wine corks)

This photo canvas was actually my hubby's creation for son JB, photos from his "Tough Mudder "2011 race.

Son Brian's Rock concert t-shirt quilt

Brian demonstrating how comfy the quilt is.

Heather's t-shirt quilt with soft 'minky' backing

Nieces Christy and Carrie received two of my shibori silk scarves

Will end the post with photo of my favorite my mom with her special request lap quilt /special size just for her.

We had a wonderful Christmas, hope you all did too!

It's holiday gift giving time…so tell me please

2011-12-21T23:16:00.002-05:00

Do you enjoy making gifts for your families or friends?
Are you lucky enough to have family that enjoys receiving your creations?
I can always remember enjoying an opportunity to make items to give as gifts since I was young, fast forward a little and I became a poor college art student and family members proceeded to be stuck with handmade creations from me possibly a batik, a weaving, stain glassed items… I guess it became tiring to some of my family members because I can still remember the year it was announced "No more handmade gifts please" from that day forth all gift exchanges were to be bought not handmade. Since I was basically the only member of my immediate family that made gifts I always knew who the comment was mostly directed to. ;-(
Fortunate for me my children have always enjoyed receiving handmade creations from their mother in fact so much so that some years it has become a joke between us to see what mom can come up with or some years there are even requests or directives. I ENJOY coming up with new hand made items to give as gifts.
Here are a couple examples:

painting my grandson's name paintings

my first baby quilt and matching chair 6-7 years ago

So as per my usual I have been busy making gifts for this holiday season.
Sadly I was not able to complete a couple quilts I had hoped to give out over the holidays due to an unexpected 3 weeks in Mi late November/early December but happily [for me] I did manage to get most of my projects or gifts completed…

shibori stitched hand dyed silk

pole wrapped shibori hand dyed silk

I will give some of my hand dyed silk scarves as gifts to family members of mine that do enjoy receiving hand made items. I AM Wishing everyone a very MERY CHRISTMAS and a Joyous NEW YEAR.

PS: To this day I also remember NOT to burden the family member/s who made the request " Please NO more handmade gifts, store bought only " ;-)

Sometimes life can kick you in the stomach

2011-12-15T00:15:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since my last post and as the subject line states….sometimes life CAN kick you in the stomach. The weekend before Thanksgiving my mother who is 87 fell and sadly broke her femur bone of her right leg, just above her knee replacement. Suddenly there was emergency surgery to be scheduled, my father who is 90 had to be considered since my mother is his full time caretaker. They have been married for 66 years. So my sister flew in from FL and I flew in from VA to MI where one of my other sister's was holding down the fort so to speak. The next 3 weeks of my life I barely care to remember.

Mom's leg = 75 staples

Thankfully my mother made it through her surgery and will NOW be convalescing most likely in a rehab/nursing home for 90-120 days. We quickly had to move them out of their senior apartment and my dad is presently staying in a dementia care center.

Dad visiting with Mom

Dad saying goodnight before I took him back to his new residence

So I spent Thanksgiving in MI with my lovely nieces Carrie and Christy's families along with my dad
and my hubby spent Thanksgiving in PA with my son JB, his wife Claire and our grand-daughter Charlotte at Claire's folks Wendy and Ian's lovely home.

Handsome hubby w/ Son JB,Wife Claire and our grand-daughter Charlotte
Thanksgiving in PA 2011

My dad and niece Carrie and her daughter Rayna
Thanksgiving in MI 2011

The morning after Thanksgiving my husband attended without me a home inspection for the home we were very excited to be in the process of purchasing. Early Monday morning he left to Hawaii for his business trip minus me ;-( which actually hurt him more then me because he desperately wanted to be in MI helping us.
Well fast forward 3 weeks later…my braincells are shot, I'm back in VA and I am so behind being ready for the Holidays. Doubtful there will be cards sent out this year and very sad to report the home my husband and I were very excited about finally finding to purchase hit a few glitches with us cross country from each other and then the seller's realtor so as stated "SOMETIMES life does kick you in the stomach" but take it from me you just need to try hard to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and Trust that the Lord has your back.
So it's been back to the studio for me…thankfully I have finished putting the binding on two of the quilts I had started before I rushed to MI along with a good start on completing a few other Christmas projects meant to be presents. I can post this one since sadly I know my mom is without internet presently so she will not see if before she receives it for Christmas. She requested I make her a special sized quilt for her to use in her recliner should come in handy presently while she is in wheelchair. ;-( recovering.

Mom's new quilt
Christmas present 2011

Special sized quilt requested by Mom

So back to the studio tomorrow for me….that is after I first get a haircut so I feel like a person again ;-)
Nothing like creating Art to make one's soul feel better!

I've got to stay focused...

2011-11-15T22:27:00.001-05:00

So lucky me…we had a fabulous weekend in NJ watching my son participate in his first tough mudder competition…I thought he was crazy BUT HE did us proud!! and we all had a lot of fun taking photo's and cheering him on…his wife, toddler Charlotte, his inlaw's Wendy and Ian and my hubby Bill and me…

see the guy in the green shorts

again he's the one in the green shorts…jumping

he smiled the whole time
My son the "Tough Mudder"!

Back in VA and I have to try to keep focus with my quilting if I am going to get my Christmas projects completed in time…lucky for me I have the Rock concert t-shirt quilt top quilted and cut off the HQ16. Tomorrow time to load up another quilt top. the rock concert t-shirt quilt top turned out to be 78 x 91 inches, still needs to have binding sewn on. Sure wish I could figure out how to gage shrinkage on quilt tops…still something that always catches me off guard.

Can't reveal the quilt at this time…you can peek at an old post for it's design.

Another quilt top in process….

Well tomorrow is another day…..

Break time…here are some coming attractions...

2011-11-10T14:17:00.001-05:00

Silly me loaded my HQ16 with the quilt top that is going to take me the longest to complete!!!! geeeshhhh

wonder where my brain was as I picked this quilt top out of the 3 I have ready to quilt?

So here are some pics from my morning work….

Quilting the t-shirt quilt top

This is going to take longer then I realized

Then I have another quilt top in process but need to talk to the recipient to see if this is what she has in mind so I have put it aside until next week since I get visit the recipient in NJ this weekend. ;-)

Eventually will be a double size bed quilt

Well for now break time is over…..heading back to the cutting table to begin another of my hopeful Christmas presents. See you later gators…….

Last weekend flew by and then such a busy weekend!

2011-11-09T22:31:00.003-05:00

I missed posting Halloween photos…but I want to show off the "Robin and Wonder Woman" costumes I made for two of my grandchildren and of course I cannot neglect to include a photo of my grand-daughter the "Lion's cheerleader"…so will begin my post with grandkid photos:

So you can see Halloween was fun…
Last week flew by lots of quilting time finally, in fact I have 3 quilt tops waiting for me to load onto the HQ16. Christmas is around the corner so I need to stay focused if I am to finish the many projects I have in mind.
Here's what I've got done so far…

Son's Rock concert t-shirts

Special sized requested lap quilt

Christmas present so cannot reveal yet

Managed to load the HQ16 with the Rock Concert Quilt

Then our weekend was really busy with a road trip to PA viewing various area's and properties in hopes of finding a retirement home, gotta keep trying there...……….

Tomorrow I hope to begin quilting on the HQ16….

I am on a roll, I hope I keep this up...

2011-10-30T15:43:00.000-04:00

Everyone seems to be counting down the days to Christmas already...and yup Halloween has not yet passed us by.....
But you see in Quilting land the countdown is being shouted out to try to help us quilter's keep track of our time, some of us have hopes of completing some projects in time to give as gifts this Christmas "yup this year" ;-) Notice "the this year".

Well I have been on a good roll this past week, I hope I can keep the pace.....

Here is the second quilt top completed and now waiting in line for the HQ16. I have a couple more tops I want to complete before I begin quilting them.

This quilt is a special request by my mom; she asked for a special sized quilt to use while she sits in her lazy boy. It seems the other quilts I made her seem to bulky or heavy so by special request here it is:

This quilt is long and skinny sized special for my mom.

And notice my next photo, it will give you a hint of what project I am working on now...

[Also notice in the photo's background my mom's quilt top with the Minky backing I will be backing her quilt with to make it as my one son stated "SO SOFT!"

Heather's t-shirt quilt in next in line.

So it's back to the sewing machine for me...... Hope you ENJOY!

Rock Concert Quilt Top is ready to.......

2011-10-29T15:49:00.000-04:00

So I have completed the rock concert t-shirt quilt top...it will be put aside for a little while before I roll it on my HQ16 to quilt. It is amazing how heavy this quilt is already due to the t-shirts? I am trying to decide whether to quilt as two layers or 3, meaning my son has requested the backing be soft, meaning "Minky" as it's back so that in itself can also be heavy then add a layer of cotton batting and wow!?
Oh well time will tell...... I'll let you know in the future my decision....
So here is a peek...and the bed it is laid on for photo is our queen size guest bed so yup this is a huge lap quilt. Even with the shrinkage quilting will cause I believe he will have at least a nice size full bed quilt.

Quilt top completed next step: Mid-arm quilting

This is a queen size mattress, but I know there will be some shrinkage when quilting is added.

Oh I forgot to possibly explain my last steps of process?

As I explained in past posts; Gather your t-shirts, cut them apart then iron them, next iron on light interfacing of your choice, then lay out the t-shirts so you can see what you have to work with and semi decide on design, next cut the t-shirts into their rectangles. At this point I tried to work down my columns and cut the t-shirts to be sewn in each column the same width. After my 4 columns were sewn in strips I then attach each column together to complete the 4 column quilt top. At this point I was not happy with the width versus height so I took leftover backs of the black t-shirts and created two 5 1/2 inch wide strips that I sewed to the edges both sides. You can possibly notice the strip in my first photo. I have enough black t-shirt material to make a border for the bottom edge of quilt top and probably will do this before I quilt the top. But for right now I've got a crock pot calling out to me to stir. Hope you enjoyed.

This was last evening...3 columns sewn 1 more to add but looking too skinny to me

Almost done...

2011-10-28T22:15:00.002-04:00

I am close ....very close to having the Rock Concert t-shirt quilt-top sewn together...one more column to add and it will be ready for me to quilt...
Sadly I just ran out of steam tonight so it will have to wait till tomorrow for completion...
Here's a peek.... I figure it's safe to post photo because it's doubtful my son reads my blog....

One more column to attach...

See you tomorrow....

Promised to post more process along the way

2011-10-28T00:47:00.001-04:00

So I am coming along on the t-shirt quilt. Now if I did not share with you the theme of this t-shirt quilt is Concerts, dare I call them Rock Concerts not sure anymore if Pantera, Poison or Metallica are classified Rock? lol but heck these are my son's t-shirts.
So let's back track I mentioned you #1 cut the t-shirts apart, #2 & #3 iron on some type of light interfacing of your choice. The next step at least for me was to organize the t-shirts into rows seeing how the sizes could coordinate and hopefully balance the designs & colors. After placing the t-shirts all into rows I realized there are enough t-shirts for me to complete this quilt top using only t-shirts, not sewing borders of fabric to each square as I have in the past. Here is an example of one of my past t-shirt quilts.

Son JB's College Football Quilt

A lot of my other t-shirt quilts have had t-shirts of many different sizes so to make them all intermix into a cohesive design I used borders of coodinating fabrics.

Well this quilt top should be large enough thanks to the load of t-shirts my son Brian has AND the t-shirts are all about the same size so I am hoping to sew them basically into columns then sew the columns together into a quilt top.

Here are the t-shirts placed into 4 columns

So today I got the lap quilt-top sewn together and began trimming the t-shirts and managed to begin sewing the first column together.....

lap quilt top and 1st column of Concert t-shirt quilt top

Tomorrow it will be back to the sewing machine...

I am hoping to have both quilt tops completed by tomorrow end of day....because as I mentioned I have so many projects and so little time till Christmas.....

It's T-shirt quilt time!

2011-10-26T13:37:00.004-04:00

So I have so many projects I need to complete and quite a few of them hopefully in time for Christmas?
Eeekkkkkkkkkkkkk! Christmas is really just around the corner...

Well for now here's a little of my process when making a t-shirt quilt top. Little do my children really realize the time and effort that goes into the quilt. At least they relate to the "LOVE" part involved.

So first you get to gather the many t-shirts your someone feels are "Special for whatever reason to them"

make sure to be careful cutting the front and back apart I once in a hurry did not check the back of one of the t-shirts I was working with and cut right through an important item. ;-( luckily I was able to salvage my mistake.

So here are the t-shirts cut apart and laid out for consideration.

next you get to iron the t-shirt before adding your interfacing

measuring my interfacing

then you get to iron on your chosen interfacing

Yup you have to do this to each t-shirt

After ironing the interfacing to each of your t-shirts you then get to cut them into your various squares or rectangles and decide on your quilt top design. I promise to post more photos as the quilt top evolves.
I am working on two t-shirt quilts right now and I am trying to complete a new lap quilt for my mom...

Hoping to have this quilt top sewn together by end of day.

Well as I mentioned....I have so many projects so little time so it's time to get back to work.....

I have also set a new goal! I have been stuck making loads of functional quilts versus art quilting recently...so look out January 2012 is going to be the month of ONLY art quilts.

Okay now so it's back to the studio for me......ttyl

It's been too long

2011-10-19T00:48:00.002-04:00

Once again I find myself beginning by stating "it's been too long"?? Does anyone else find it difficult to stop everything that is taking place in their life to sit down and post in their blog? I seem to have hit a wall lately in my organization skills or possibly just rearranged my priorities a little and gotten out of sync with my old habits. I'll share a little of what I've had going on and then hope I get back to my old habits RE: posting on my blog soon.
So let's see as of late I baby sat 2 full weekends in PA during the past 5 weekends for my daughter and during that time span I made a "Robin" costume Caleb's request for Halloween.

Caleb trying on the "Robin" costume

That costume got my daughter thinking how much fun it would be for Brynn to be "Wonder Woman" and then possibly Daddy Nate could wear a "Batman" t-shirt or ? and Mommy Keli could come up with some "Cat Woman" get up while the family goes to their Halloween parade's and such this year so grandma had to create "Wonder Woman" for 2 year old - Brynn ha-ha

Brynn's "Wonder Woman" costume

Guess who just turned 50..YAY!

I also made a quick trip to MI where I was able to enjoy my sister-in-law's 50th birthday celebration,

MI Son and wife "Brian and Heather"

My Mommy and Daddy {90 and 87}

I was able to visit with my son and his wife AND had a great visit with my folks,

Ryan and Missy

Baby quilt and blanket

I also attended two baby showers. Here's the baby quilt's for Ryan and Missy's future baby boy. All this during my one 4.5 day trip to good ole Clinton Township MI.As you can see I have been a very busy person. Last weekend we had MI company in VA, so you can see the fun continues.

Now I hope I can be as successful down the way to getting back to my old schedule of posting regularly on my blog so I don't have to rack my brain to remember what exactly I wanted to and haven't shared yet.

Gotta repeat one thing though....."Fall does speak to my soul". Enjoy!

Sitting in an Apple Store "Class-time" ;-)

2011-09-27T14:52:00.002-04:00

Got to LOVE "One on One" for anyone that has bought a MAC you might know what I mean ;-)
When making a switch from PC's back to Mac I highly recommend you purchase the "One on One" option. ;-) I did! I have warned my trainers that they will definitely know me by the end of my year of training. I am so glad I am retired and can take the time to take advantage of the training classes.
So what have I been busy with today so far?
Began the morning rinsing out some of my fabric that I dyed yesterday ;-) After my classes I will finish washing the fabrics out and get to enjoy seeing the end results.

Fabric rinsed and waiting for me ;-)
whoops except one jug I mixed this morning

Notice the splattered dye on my legs..good thing I was planning on showering after I messed with the dyes.

So I have had a very productive day in my "One on One" session and then followed up with a "Personal Project" session at the Reston Apple Store today. ;-))) Finally beginning to feel comfortable on my new Mac. It is beginning to come back to me! Sure took long enough...must be my old brain.... lol or possibly my overactive brain.

some of my experiments drying before final wash

A start of possible Halloween costume for Brynn?

Okay so Apple class time has ended.... I am off to a JoAnn Fabric's to try to find/buy some supplies for Keli and I to make a Robin costume for Caleb. Wish us luck.

Finally feeling a little caught up

2011-09-26T00:46:00.002-04:00

Last I posted I know I must have been lamenting (*wailing, lamentation, moan,moaning, weeping, crying, sob, sobbing, complaint) ;-)) I was probably in the deep throes (*agonies) of trying to acclimate to my new MacBook Pro. After about 10 years of using PC's (due to the day job) the switch turned out to NOT be as easy as most people felt it would be for me. So many changes for this ole brain ;-) lol

But enough about my new MAC.... here's a few other projects I finally have been working on...

Finally tried floating a couple quilt tops on my mid-arm.
Now they just have to have binding put on. ;-)

Found some old projects to finish up.

And today I finally began a project I've had planned in thought for quite some time.
Can happily report I still remember how to cut glass.

Once again lagging in my posts

2011-09-03T12:27:00.001-04:00

YES I have been lagging in my posting once again BUT what is worse is I am also lagging or actually null ;-( in all studio or art work!!!! NOT a good thing!
I have so many fabulous things happening that I just have not been able to take the time to share.
Of course I might also mention the stranger items taking place such as EARTHQUAKE??? yes in DC and in the same week Hurricane Irene?....sooooo now let's see what to share?
By the way Does anyone else wish that one could telepathically dictate to their blog and it automatically post?
A sad fact is I have been spending TOO much time on a computer AND still no time to blog???
Explanation? I am now a MAC person. Once again....lol If you might recall, I believe I shared my husband bought me a laptop for my 60th birthday in July.
With so much going on in our schedules I decided to hold off on picking up the laptop until I would have time to focus the HUGE learning curve this purchase would bring.
I had made the decision [after having an Ipad for a year] I would go back to MAC versus buying PC this is a huge undertaking for me after using PC's for so many years in my classrooms and well as our home.

Funny in the early years of my teaching career EVERYTHING we did in education was total MAC.... Well then if some might recall or experienced Mac lost the bid wars and suddenly our classrooms became PC land. I still had my Mac at home and as I told the young whipper snaps that have been instructing me in my "One to One' classes the last Mac I purchased cost $3952.74 and that was WITH the educator advantage discount! I have the bill to remind me of this... It was a G3/250 32/4G/CD/E/56K.
This made me HIGH TECH back then lol lol hmmmm the year was 7/21/1998. Funny seems to have been another birthday purchase lol lol lol.
Well fast forward a few years and MI gave monies to school districts across the State to help get our educators to welcome high tech and become connected! Connected to the Internet that is, we all received Dell laptops with home Internet service free for a year I believe.... my memory always tests me ;-)
BUT my point is this MAC person suddenly became a PC person due to the fact it just became too difficult to fight the system. ;-) Also who would knock being given new technology FREE even? That computer was a Dell Inspiron running Windows ME Millennium Edition. lol I share all this info with you because?
Possibly now you can understand what I have been up to instead of my studio time or blogging?
Yup I still have both those laptops and actually am trying to sort through old files in hopes to transfer to the new equipment, then I also have been attending training classes and "One on One" sessions in hopes to become re-acquainted with MAC. Reston and Fairfax Apple stores have great employee trainers.
It is exciting YES but also EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!!!!
To end this post one final item I wish to share...this now completes my very first posting via the new "MacBook Pro" ;-)
Wish me luck and I promise to be back to my blogging as soon as the file transfer etc. is completed. {a sucky item they transfer my files = transfer or files between my Sony and MacBook will take 24-48 hours....YUP that means I will be with out either of my laptops! The bright side? Yay! studio time! ;-)

My VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PARTY

2011-08-15T01:26:00.003-04:00

There is so much I have meant to be sharing YET I seem to have lost the flare or organization skills I used to have when it comes to posting to my blog! I honestly want to and NEED to get back on track...
But for now I'd like to share about the most fabulous day EVER that my children and hubby recently gave me! July 29th was my birthday and this year was one of those years some refer to as a milestone year or is that a milestone number ;-) lol To help me try to let the number to sink in a little and help me celebrate in a BIG WAY my kids and hubby got together and threw me an amazing wonderful birthday party! Now seeing how the hubby and I live in VA, one of my children lives in Cranford NJ and another lives in West Chester PA we all ended up on the road to MI the same day/evening lol good ole Ohio turnpike so we could all gather to celebrate with our friends and family in the area I raised my children; Clinton Township, MI. I knew they were giving me a party but that was it! I was not allowed any details so one might be able to imagine my fears since I do have a wild imagination and add to that my older son had been teasing me unmercifully about their plans to "finally get me"....lol. We all know paybacks can be hell...lol. Well the party was beyond my wildest dreams a WONDERFUL day...so many important friends of mine came and family to help me ring in the big birthday. ;-) It was AMAZING!
My daughter created the most exceptional book, such an amazing gift from my hubby and children...so many memories and she did not miss a thing, my life so far...She must have worked hours and hours on it. Such a treasured present.

Cover of my book

one the pages about my younger years

page about my daughter Keli

one of the pages about the children and I "our family"

Final dedication page

In lieu of gifts the invitations asked guests to bring a yard of quilting fabric for me, the fabric was to be chosen because it reminded or made the guest think of me.


One friend chose a fabric w/birds and butterflies because of my love for them, she included a matching box for me to pack my fabric in to carry back to VA.

Possibly you noticed the pointillism painting fabric refers to my art background,the dark blue in the middle of photo has silver metallic dots that signified stars to represent the many students and people I have touched during my life ;-0 (teary eyes) and dark blue MICHIGAN skies

A beautiful basket full of batiks from my sister-in-law,sadly she missed party,was out of town


just look at my stash

All these beautiful browns from Heather's mom, I know exactly what I will make with these!

Tomorrow I will try to share more......until..... ;-)

silk dyeing-pole wrapping-shibori

2011-07-17T22:58:00.002-04:00

I've been on a roll with my quilting but I've also been having loads of fun with my color-hue dyes and silk[dharmatrading.com]. I just added more dyed scarves to my inventory ;-) technique was pole wrapping - shibori style. So here are photo's of some of the process.

silk wrapped around pole using string

silk is dyed using color-hue dyes now drying

silk is removed from pipe and rinsed and hung to dry


completed silk scarves

Now back to my quilting... ;-) Enjoy.

Learning curve....

2011-07-17T12:09:00.005-04:00

Since my last quilt has been delivered to the special person it was created for I am guessing it is now safe to show it off ;-)
This quilt proved to be a good example of how much my quilting skills have grown since I first began quilting. ;-) My hubby's comment; "Wow I remember when you were scared to turn on your HQ16 and look at you now!" his comment gave us a chuckle, and lol lol he was oh so true about how scared I was when I first got my HQ16.
Another thing I noticed.... "my last 3 quilts have been created without patterns and designed semi as I moved along in my process.....lol lol
proved to be quite enjoyable!!!
I saw a post this week the question {Why do you create your art?} and I realized I find it easiest to create my art when I am creating it with someone or something in mind. Guess that would fit in with my goal oriented personality? lol But basically I create my art because it feeds my soul. ;-) How about you, why do you create your art?
Well onward to my newest quilt........
Here's some photos of the process steps taken while I was creating my latest quilt.
This quilt came about because of a special person we know that has courageously had to take on some of life's tough stuff we sometimes get hit with.
I wanted to create a special quilt for her but it had to be completed quickly!
I luckily had on hand a 'layer cake' [40-10 inch pre-cut squares for those of you who do not know what a layer cake is] so decided to come up with a very simple design using 35 of the 10 inch squares and solid white fabric as spacing strips.
As I began sewing the design together I realized some of the sizes of white strips were becoming boring or stagnant looking so decided to become friends with my seam ripper and redo some of the white strips widths. ;-) Aren't digital camera's handy to help one see design flaws?

Deciding on square placement and original strips being sewn


Black and white photo to give me an idea of lights and dark placement

Completed quilt top- if you look closely you might see the white rows alternate thick and thin, hard to notice in the photo

Loaded on HQ16 ready to quilt, but now how to quilt to try to make the simple design stand out?

Became courageous in my free motion design, used hearts in the squares and zig zag lines elsewhere, row of hearts at top and bottom row of quilt.

Possibly you can see the stitching in the solid soft backing

Completed quilt ready to mail off

Close up of quilting

Backing is nice and soft ;-)

I admit my husband's observation was very true! I've come a long way in my quilting skills and have enjoyed every minute of my journey. The plus on this quilt is that I have been told the recipient loves it and my youngest son gave his approval ;-) his quote sent via a text.... "it is so soft" ;-)

Enjoy.....more catch up posting to follow soon...

Finally will post about some process.

2011-07-17T00:06:00.001-04:00

I have been busy sewing and have been very productive lately EXCEPT in my blogging. I sure wish there was a way to dictate my thoughts to my blog..lol

So long ago I promised to post about my latest t-shirt quilt. I made the t-shirt quilt as a gift to our niece who graduated from Rockford High School in MI this past June. She will be a freshman at Michigan State come Sept. Part of the quilt design were her personal t-shirts along with some quilting squares that our niece actually designed and sewed while she was a 6th grader with full intentions to make a quilt. She managed to sew a few squares before losing interest and off and on through out the next couple years we would tease her and ask where that quilt was? Her mother managed to locate those squares and any left over fabric and sent that off to me along with some of her t-shirts.
From my photos I am hoping you will understand my design process. When making a t-shirt quilt you first want to cut your squares from the t-shirts and iron on knit interfacing.

Here you can see the various squares of t-shirts and my nieces quilt squares on my design board

I've sewn borders around the t-shirt shapes and am trying to decide on a design composition.

After struggling with the design for a few days I come up with a new idea.

Beginning to sew my shapes into strips or rows

after sewing top and bottom rows, the middle area was sewn into 3 columns then sewn together

final borders sewn on quilt

quilt top is quilted using my HQ16


completed quilt


Graduation party- Niece did recognize her squares. ;-)

Quilt happily turned out to be perfect for a twin bed.

So tomorrow I hope to post another catch-up post; topic - my latest quilt ;-) Enjoy!

Wow where has my time gone?

2011-07-04T12:20:00.000-04:00

Sadly life has just kept me too busy to focus on my blog ;-(
Which since I enjoy reading blogs I follow regularly you would think I would set aside the time to try to keep up with mine? Possibly I had hit a funk? lol
Oh well now is better then NEVER ;-)
Hubby and I made some other roads trips (*NJ -to see Charlotte)
since our MI trip but we freely admit our MI trip was too much squeezed into a week so we both needed some quiet shutdown time to get back on track. ;-) Since he is still working it can be rougher for him.

Hubby and Charlotte


back of quilt

We've had a nice quiet 4th, I've been back to the pool daily doing my walking/jogging laps which is making me stronger and an extra bonus in hot weather the pool feels great! Yesterday while hubby played with his photo editing I enjoyed a very creative day. I got my quilt top quilted (though cannot show off the quilt yet) and I enjoyed some creative dyeing of silk scarves. Here are some photos share the process.

silk dyeing

stitched dyeing

removing stitching

close up of two styles

finished scarves

close up of scarves

[Wish I could photograph the silks to show their true beauty]

It's been a blessed week, but now it's about a 12 hour drive home...

2011-06-12T18:02:00.001-04:00

We've had a very busy blessed week... Hubby and I drove last weekend to MI to celebrate some family milestones both in Rockford MI and Clinton Township,MI (opposite sides of the state) so lots of miles on the Ford this week. We first celebrated our nieces highschool graduation and then last night our daughter-in-law's (we prefer to say daughter-in-heart) graduation in internal medicine from Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center.
In between the ceremonies we even managed to squeeze in quick visits with my folks and the hubby's 83 year old aunt who lives on Harsens Island. We are now making our way back to VA, the GPS predicts another 10 h 51m.

I can finally post photos of the last quilt I completed. I had mentioned the quilt was a huge secret and I actually managed NOT to spill the beans by blogging about it. lol lol
So to fill you in a little on the story behind this quilt...when I first moved to VA and had just taken up quilting (was a complete newbie) my niece and family came down to visit us. During their visit we made a stop at my local quilt store Kelly Ann's in Warrenton to pick out I think a backing for my first quilt top. Well my niece Emily mentioned to her mom that she wanted to make a quilt and they proceeded to pick out about 5 various patterns of fabric so Emily could begin to design her quilt. Well at various times throughout the next 5 or so years we have teased Emily about her quillt.
We would ask her "hey Emily have you completed your quilt?" lol lol knowing the answer might be "quilt? What quilt?" :-)
So as a surprise graduation gift with a little help from her mom who managed to dig up the original fabrics and 4 or so squares Emily had designed along with a few of her high school activity t-shirts and a new one from Michigan State (where she will be a freshman next year) I surprised her with a completed memory quilt. It was a successful surprise. :-)

We have had a very special yet tiring week, we pray for smooth safe road travel on our journey home.. I hope to post more about the design process of her quilt when we make it back to VA...till then hope you enjoy seeing the photos.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

On route to family celebrations,

2011-06-03T21:20:00.001-04:00

So we are on route to attend loads of family celebrations this coming week up north. Luckily before we left I managed to complete a quilt that was completed by my mother and Me. :-) Little did my mom know....
Over Christmas holiday this year I discovered a plastic bag in one of our MI property's closets that my sisters had put there a few years back when they moved our folks from their condo to their present senior apartment.
Well during that move there was a lot of downsizing...and well lucky for me they had no idea what to do with a bag of what they called fabric possibly for quilting. It turned out the bag had strips of piecing my mother had begun years ago...and I do mean years...what is great is the fabric is old so loads of old patterns :-) and colors. My guess was Mom was in the mist of making a ribbon style quilt with her sewing group from Punta Gorda.
I was thrilled with the discovery and decided the quilt must be completed.
Well here it is :-) I am taking it to Mi for my mom to inspect, lol lol lol but it's my treasure to keep.....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Whoa...time is flying by

2011-05-24T22:12:00.001-04:00

Just noticed I have been amiss in my blogging...really it's been since May 8? Oh my?...I could promise as usual to try to do better....??? lol hmmmm oh well guess such is life...
The month of May has been busy but thankfully my quilting has found time to fit into the schedule. I managed to get away on a weekend quilt retreat with my old guild that helped me get started in quilting when I first moved to VA. As usual it was a wonderful weekend, productive with loads of fun and laughs. I thank them for a wonderful adventure. I have been working on two projects that unfortunately have to stay secret for a while longer...I have no idea how the fabric designers or quilt pattern makers create their lines or quilts and then have to keep them secret for months on end...this short time is killing me ;-) lol

I will show one project I am working on, it involves some free solid charms from the modern quilt guild group I've joined "it is a challenge"...so figured this was the perfect time to finally try the twister gadget ;-) what fun it is....
so here 's photo's of some stuff I'm working on that I can show you ;-)....hope you enjoy!


Step one was to sew the charms together and add 3 inch border

Use the Plexiglas shape to cut out squares and sew into rows..it this not GREAT?

HQ16 is ready to go too, next up to be quilted is quilt top from my mom's strip piecing

I am having so much fun dyeing silk...

2011-05-08T22:35:00.001-04:00

So I have been working on a couple "top secret" quilt projects this past week along with trying to regain my energy after our very quick trip up north. Bill and I had a wonderful celebration and trip last week but between the emergency room episode and two college ceremonies we found ourselves needing to regroup and regain my energy.....
I am glad I participated in the silk dyeing w/shibori technique online class. It was the first time I worked with silks along with the first time I was introduced to "Colorhue dyes" (quick set dyes). I really enjoy the ease of using these dyes. I admit they create softer shades and colors than MX fiber dyes but I enjoy the ease of working with them. It is nice to be able to swish my hands in the color mixtures without getting the norm stained nail-beds or hands from dye that can stay for days.

And finally this weekend I got to play with my art and in my studio....

beads used for pattern resist

pole wrapping and beads

removing beads

all 5 newly dyed scarves

blues and greens

browns and beige

close up

Congrats to our new 2011 Grad-Amy

2011-05-08T20:57:00.001-04:00

Well did not mean to get behind...it's a shame I cannot magically have my posts appear via thoughts.... We've been busy and somehow I let it get me off track in my some of my art and blogging...
So I am going to make this a two post day ;-) to try to catch up....lol

First thing I'd like to share is the fun we had last weekend celebrating a family college graduation. Our niece Amy graduated from the University of MI last weekend soit was time for a quick trip up north to be part of the festivities.
Of course as I shared with my family I am feeling jinxed regarding our trips up north...it seems lately every time I plan a visit up north I get greeted upon landing at the airport with news that one of my parents is hospital bound usually via ambulance... And YUP.... this time it was my dad.... So we flew in around noon Friday and after getting our rental car proceeded to a hospital emergency room to try to be some help to my folks. Thankfully we got to spring them, got them home and even managed to have a pleasant quick visit ;-))) it was then onto our hotel to get some rest before Saturday's morning festivities.

Our Saturday began at the U of MI stadium along with the many proud families of the class of 2011.

Amy helped us be able to locate her in the crowd by adding a little special artwork to her cap, of course "an apple" to represent the teacher certification she had just received.


The proud Aunt and Uncle and the new grad Amy

For one of Amy's gifts I took one of my husband's old U of M t-shirts and added it to a one of a kind quilt for a one of a kind graduate ;-)

notice emblem in lower right hand corner

Amy opening her quilt

The day was a grand celebration...the sun even came out for us.
A reminder to all....

GO BLUE!!!

Last shibori class ;-(

2011-04-21T00:51:00.001-04:00

So our class is coming to an end...I have really enjoyed working with the colorhue dyes...I enjoy the fact that as far as dyeing fabric they are a clean process ;-) and quick set so no steaming or special process to complete after adding color to the silks...One drawback is the color is not as intense or deep as other fiber active dyes.
I have enjoyed using them for this class and actually intend to continue using them in future creations.
So for this final lesson it was suggested we should try to be creative and be open to new ways to create texture or resists in our dyeing. I happened to have sitting in my studio the sink tool that our teacher demonstrated a technique on so decided "heck why not give it a try"...

so getting ready to add more dye


clamping technique


stitching and tie resist

clamping sample, intend to over dye after adding stitching

3 different scarves, resist by stitching
(orange scarf used kitchen sink tool and stitching to create resist design and texture)


close up on the one scarf, different types of stitching, color hue dyes

The class was GREAT! I look forward to creating more shibori....eventually with other dyes.

Lesson four was Arashi Shibori

2011-04-14T16:39:00.000-04:00

So it might have taken me two times to get the effect correctly but here it seems to be....Arashi translates to "storm-driven rain" . Since the teacher of my online class mentioned that she has personally wrapped over 80,000 yards of strings around poles and stated that easily the first 20,000 were kinda iffy I realize it would take me forever to master the technique. I wrapped 3 scarves so far and this was the first one to give an inkling of the arashi pattern from what I have seen.
So to try to show you a little of the process:

pole wrapped silk-dyed with colorhue dyes

Arashi Shibori silk scarf

Close up

I am really enjoying my online class, highly recommend the class to all.
Glennis Dolce - Shibori Girl Studios @ www.shiborigirlstudios.com

It's been a time of Bluebells and silk dyeing ;-)

2011-04-12T23:52:00.001-04:00

So it's bluebell time in VA ;-) last year was the first time the hubby and I discovered these flowers which make the ground look totally awash in lavender color...they are a very short seasonal joy so we took the time and made sure to as they say "take time to smell the flowers"

The other item I've been busy with lately is continuing working on discovering more about Color-hue dyes on silk...
here are my newest creations...

Wish my photography of the silk scarves could do them justice... ;-)))

Figure it's safe to finally blog about.

2011-04-08T21:23:00.000-04:00

You might recall back in January I decided to set some new goals for 2011.

Goals are to: Sign up for quilting swaps (possibly found online), to participate in quilt a-longs (possibly found online) or w/ guilds and to enter quilt challenges.

Well sometime during January I came across this challenge on the Modern Quilt Guild's website. [ the modern quilt guild - challenge-2 ]

I was excited because the timing seemed perfect. Seeing the challenge was to create a monochromatic quilt also worked well with another goal of mine; to use from my stash as much as possible. My first step was to look through my stash to try to decide on a color, this could prove difficult since I’ve never met a color I don’t enjoy. Since Jan–March can sometimes be a rough time of the year due to seasonal snow storms it made me think of blue. Blue would be my choice, I would call it Winter Blues.

Once my color choice was made; it was now time to begin the challenge.

I gathered blues from my stash placing them in piles by value sorting out blues I felt did not seem to fit. I left the blues sitting spread out in a row for about a week weeding to and from the stack while I let my thoughts go to brainstorming a design. Traditional log cabin popped in and out along with other traditional patterns but in the end I decided to just gather my fabrics, cut some selvage to selvage strips and begin to sew them together into groups of 3 or 4 usually groups of dark and light value along with wide and thin strips.

After ironing the strips (new fabrics) I cut them up into various size shapes (rectangles and squares) and began a composition on my design wall.

After piecing the main rectangle design together I decided to complet the quilt top by adding a border. The border of my quilt was the toughest design step for me, it took the longest for me to create. I seemed to have a problem with overkill ;-)

Can you say OVERKILL?

in the end after stepping away from my quilt for a few days I came up with a solution I felt worked for a border.

I did post some photos back when I was working on the project, yet did not explain the quilt or why I had chosen to create a monochromatic quilt. I then realized I probably should NOT be posting or share my entry till After the challenge deadline had passed.

I completed the quilt and sent it off as entry. Just this past week I've noticed at least one other quilter blogging about their entry so figure it might be okay to now share my entry completed for The Modern Quilt Guild Challenge Two - 'my first online challenge' "Winter Blues" Quilt.

My completed monochromatic quilt "Winter Blues"

close up of Winter Blues

I am happy with my monochromatic quilt “Winter Blues” AND I look forward to attempting more challenges in the future.

I also can't wait to view all the entries when they are posted to see the many ways 'we quilters' deciphered make a quilt that is monochromatic. ;-)

Arashi Shibori! Lesson 4 ;-)

2011-04-07T22:26:00.001-04:00

I am continuing with my "shibori w/ silk" lessons and have been enjoying the various exercises using color-hue dyes w/silk and various shibori techniques.
I ordered about 9 different styles of silk scarves from Dharma Trading Company to use for my class lessons. My goal in ordering the various scarves was to help me try to experiment with as many different types of silks as possible. I have silk habotai, silk charmeuse, chiffon, crepe de chine and a silk/wool blend. The trick now for me is to try to remember which silk is which. ;-)
This week's technique was Arashi Shibori (pole wrapping); I have done some pole wrapping in the past using cotton fabrics and indigo dyes so I feel a little comfortable with the process of wrapping fabric on a pole, the part that was completely to me is once again was the use of quick set dyes and how they would react during the process.

base color dyeing

wrapping silk on pole

dyeing wrapped silk scarves

drying

More silk dyeing & shibori pattern stitching - class lesson

2011-04-02T21:42:00.001-04:00

This past week in the evenings while sitting in front of the boob tube with the hubby I have been working on stitching shibori patterns on a couple silk scarves.

this scarf is 63% silk & 37% wool

this scarf is 100% silk

After the stitching is completed you then pull the threads tightly before completing the dyeing process.


I lightly dyed the one green and one beige before pulling threads

The next step of the shibori process is to dye the silk. I am learning how to dye silk with color hue dyes, which I am learning quickly why they are called instant liquid dyes for silk,linen,rayon & wool. colorhuedye.com

attempted to stick with earth tone colors

tried to think blues,greens,violets

After dyeing the silk, you rinse well then let them dry.


Scarves are dry next step is to remove the threads.

I consider my lesson a success, I love how the one scarf turned out, in fact I would like to say it turned out close to what I was hoping or planned as much as shibori let's you control. I consider the second scarf a semi disaster or maybe I should just say it was an opportunity to learn ;-) I learned a little more about what quick set dyes are and how they can react on the silk. I imagined that since we work with the silk wet that the dyes would blend or mix to create new color shades on the wet fabric; such as putting yellow on wet blue silk would turn green but as you might be able to notice from my photos the colors set as blotches of various color versus blending into mixed colors. In other words I will mix my colors before applying them next time and see if that works as planned. ;-)

I look forward to completing my next shibori class lesson.

dye experiments /shibori online class

2011-03-28T23:37:00.000-04:00

Not sure I mentioned before heading up North that I had signed up for an online Shibori Techniques on Silk Class via http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/ .
Thankfully the class is one that lets participants work on the lessons as they are presented weekly OR students may take their time and complete the lessons and process experimentation when if fits their schedule.
The advantage of keeping up with the weekly lessons is the chance to post and partake with classmates in discussions online. I found enjoyment in following along with the class discussions and enjoyed the class photos that were posted during my family visit in MI. I'm back in VA and am now in the process of playing catch up. Here are a few photo's of my examples from week one lesson which centered on how to use Colorhue dyes on various silks along with exploring some itajime (fold and clamp) shibori techniques.

close up of silk design by clamping

		Week two lesson we were to begin experimenting with stitched shibori techniques so I am stitching away on a silk/wool scarf. I am trying some mokume and undulating rows of stitch. After the stitching is completed I will then pull the rows tightly to create a resist pattern when I add my dye. Shibori is all about resist.

great website for photo booth frames.

2011-03-28T22:46:00.000-04:00

/http://photoboothframes.com/

Happy to have gotten this completed and sent off in the mail

2011-03-16T17:51:00.000-04:00

I shared in my last post I am heading out of town. It felt great to manage to finish this quilt before I leave and I even managed to get it sent off via US Post Office to it's recipient. I was very happy with the way it turned out.

light blue backing


detail

So now I'm off to finish packing, I have a seminar to attend at Prince William Hospital tonight and then an early morning flight to prepare for. I hope to be in touch but until.....just keep on creating

Remember my recent classes?

2011-03-14T10:39:00.002-04:00

I am heading up north to MI this week to spend some time with my folks.
In preparation for the trip I made sure to get my 3 fused art quilts ready for the process or step of adding embroidery stitches to create details or as Laura explained "The stitches add some pop to draw your viewers in closer." It will be nice to have some handwork with me in MI to give me a feel of working with fiber while I'm away from my sewing machine and work area.
Make sure to check out Laura Wasilowski's blog and website.
www.artfabrik.com or http://artfabrik.blogspot.com/ She mentioned little ole "Me" as a guest artist on her blog ;-) how great is that. ;-)
So here are my 3 pieces I've created after attending two days of class with her.
I am looking forward to dyeing some fabulous fabric of my own in the future and creating some of 'my own designs' via Laura's fusing techniques.

My first class- "Little landscapes" explained on her blog 20x21

My second class - centered more on stitchery 12x14.

"Little house on the hill" was one of her available patterns to try 18x18

I appreciate Laura sharing her experience, hints and techniques.
It will be nice to have something to work on during my time in MI.

I had a great time in NJ last week!

2011-03-08T23:31:00.001-05:00

Well lucky me! Last week I had the opportunity to take two (1 day) classes with Laura Wasilowski www.artfabrik.com on fusing fun! I had this opportunity in part thanks to my son JB and his wife Claire for letting me stay with them for half the week. Another bonus was the chance to spend some time with my grand-daughter Charlotte who will turn one in April. ;-)

Charlotte got to visit with both her grandma Teddi and her Nanny last Weds.

So the first class which was on Thursday, we learned the basics of fusing and created 4 little landscapes that will become a little wall quilt. This is mine so far...

Friday I got to go with Claire to Charlotte's music movement class. What fun she had...


Drumming away


Charlotte found the mirror at the end of class

So then Saturday I took a second class with Laura. In this class we first created a flower pot composition and then she centered on how one can add details through stitchery to help draw the viewer closer to the piece.
I got my composition completed and had just started stitching by end of class.So to complete my piece I must add embroidery or stitches.

I headed back to VA after the class ended, thankfully it was not a bad drive.
So my goal this week is to quilt and bind two of my quilt tops waiting patiently and hopefully begin stitching on my fused fabric art pieces.
Wish me luck......and have a great week!

Making headway....

2011-02-28T23:32:00.000-05:00

Even though the day was dreary [rain and 'tornado watch' type of day] there's something about the hum of a sewing machine that can seem to wipe it all away...
What is even better is I managed to complete the quilt top so next up...I have two quilts to get quilted and binding on ;-)
So does this look like it belongs in a Northern MI home on the water?

Well tomorrow is another day.....

Loving this quick design yet...

2011-02-26T11:45:00.001-05:00

So I am finally getting to a quilt I promised a friend of mine as a retirement surprise. Yes it's a little late ;-) thankfully my friends know how I work...lol
So the pattern I decided to try began with easy cutting of fat quarters into 3 main sizes of strips

Next step create 3 piece strips that would be cut into blocks

Final steps will be to sew the blocks together and then add borders ;-)

design one

design two

I love the way this pattern went together so quickly now if I could just figure out how NOT to over analyze so much? I mean geeeshhhh it only took me a couple minutes to place my blocks into a design, now if I could just get myself to just go with it instead of then standing back and over analyzing. To show what I mean or for example I have posted two photos of the block placement..... see if you can see the difference between the two and then tell me which one do you prefer? ;-)

I forgot to post that I WON!

2011-02-24T23:40:00.000-05:00

So how much fun is this?

I have been participating with a monthly fiber challenge group whenever I can and

I WON the January challenge ;-) and today part of my prize arrived in the mail.

My prize was sponsored by C&T publishing / An E-book of my choice and a Ready to go Blank Canvas Book. Check out WWW.fibermixedmedia.com

In January I decided to try to get more involved this year in various online fiber opportunities: possibly fiber art swaps, quilt a-longs or challenges.

So far I participated in a postage stamp quilt along, I signed up for a mug rug swap and just this week my mug rugs arrived in the mail....didn't I luck out?

They are glorious and I thank my swap partner for the wonderful package of goodies and creations she mailed me.

I also participated in a postcard swap and got my two cards off on time and have received notification of their arrival ;-) in return I have received one of mine so far... I am hoping my other card arrives soon...

The next online opportunity I am going to participate in is an online dyeing class taught by Glennis Dolce of Shibori Girl Studios. Check out her beautiful shibori creations at www.shiborigirl.wordpress.com My supply kit arrived today in the mail. Looking forward to this opportunity.

I'm enjoying the new experiences and look forward to more.

Tomorrow maybe I'll find some time to post a peek at some of my recent sewing and quilting.........I've been on a roll......... ;-) It feels great.

Completed "Winter Blues " next step to quilt it.

2011-02-18T23:13:00.001-05:00

Amazing how quickly some things go together when it feels just right ;-)
I had a few lovely days in PA visiting my daughter and grand babies, so much fun!

Got back home late Weds evening in order to make some Thursday appointments. We have enjoyed two lovely days of weather (record weather today of 77 ) assures me Spring is right around the corner. Looking forward to some dyeing.
Tonight I completed my quilt top "Winter Blues" ;-) I will post photo showing the final border design I decided on but only after I complete quilting it.
I'm pleased with the end result and now have the task of deciding how to free motion the top ;-)

Can you say OVERKILL? lol

2011-02-15T14:55:00.000-05:00

So as I mentioned I decided to leave "Winter Blues" on the design board and walk away for a day or two...good thing because the next morning I looked at what I had completed and thought to myself.."Oh my nothing like overkill or too much of a good thing?"

So for the time being I pulled down the excess pieces and have escaped to PA for a few days of enjoyment with two of my grand-babies...Brynn and Caleb.
I will proceed with quilting upon my return ;-)
So while mommy is away at work today Caleb and I have made banana bread so far and....

Caleb in his tent

Quiet time

yum yum lunchtime

I am getting reacquainted with Dora, Max and Erma and even quiet time ;-) and of course loads of hugs!!!
See you in a couple days...

Just was not flowing today?

2011-02-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

Continued working on "Winter Blues" today but wow maybe I was having winter blues because I just did not feel the flow today ;-( thankfully I hung in there after getting re-acquainted with my seam ripper. ;-) Thinking I might finally have a plan for the border. It's time to let the piece hang a little so I can back off and see how I feel tomorrow, if so I'll attach the border tomorrow. Thank goodness for design boards.
So here is photo 'Audition #3'.

Productive morning..but now time to go to the pool...

2011-02-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

This morning I have been working on and auditioning a border for the "Winter Blues" quilt top...not sure you will see the differences in the two photos but look closely and you might notice a change??


Audition 1

Audition 2

I am pleased my idea seems to be working out as planned but need a break...... good time to head to my necessary pool rehab...one thing that has been proven to me during the past year is that pool therapy for me works and has become a necessity so why fight it? ;-) I am thankful for our neighborhood facility along with the fact that the pool most days is empty but for me ;-) during the times I seem to go which makes for a nice quiet relaxing workout.Weekends of course are different, might end up being some grand-kids of neighbors enjoying the pool today ;-) lol certain hours posted for that. I intend to get this quilt top sewn together this weekend and then will start planning how I will quilt it.. I have a few ideas floating around in my thoughts right now....I am hoping to have it figured out by the time I have it on my HQ16. So off to the pool I go.......Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

been plugging away...

2011-02-11T23:22:00.000-05:00

So got my winters blues piece sewn together and ready to add the borders...it sure took more time then I expected to sew all the various pieces together yet so far so good...maybe tomorrow I can get it completed.

Winter Blues

I also made sure to get my swap items in the mail...here is a photo of the mug rugs I made for the swap....hope my swap partner enjoys them, they were my first attempt at mug rugs..I look forward to receiving mine.


online mug rug swap

I have another new idea brewing....intend to construct this when it's design ready using my new felting/embellishing machine ;-)))

starting point of new wall hanging

Well back to the sewing machine..... ;-))

Where oh where have I been?

2011-02-06T00:40:00.000-05:00

Oh my! I seem to be lax again with my posting...so sorry... So where have I been and what have I been up to you ask?
Let's see...I have been plugging away at the postage stamp quilt along...sadly I missed posting a completed photo before they drew names for prizes, somehow missed the due date that was posted? ;-( that has taken the shine off trying to get it quilted w/ binding on.... but this too will be completed.

Then there are the postcards I remembered I signed up to swap...thankfully I have them completed and ready for mailing on Monday..

I also have to complete the binding on two mug rugs I signed up to swap too! Again the plan is to have them in Monday's mail too.

mug rugs

I decided to give an all blue free style quilt a shot so have been working towards that goal..it might end up a challenge piece....here's some photos of what I have so far....just in the beginning process......

The winter blues

The hubby and I also had a chance to drive to Vermont for a lovely ski weekend with my son..the first time in 20 years my hubby skied! I admit I was envious yet got to spend some quality time with my youngest grandchild so I was content.

Charlotte enjoying the cloth book grandma made her.

The boys head out...

The skiers head out for the afternoon runs.

Claire (Charlotte's mommy) and Hubby Bill

Okay so enough already, I hope you can tell I have been busy enjoying life and will forgive me for being lax with my posts....Everyone have a grand weekend and Welcome February!

It's snowing! so might as well sew!

2011-01-26T23:47:00.000-05:00

Well if you are from the DC area you know that we are getting snow......funny thing about this part of the country..they talk about the expected weather long before it happens....and of course if it finally does hit it becomes the most important thing in the NEWS! One thing at least though snow always looks pretty here....
So anyway when it snows....one might as well sew ;-)
The postage stamp quilt along is getting interesting.........I showed my beginning steps on a few of my past posts....so here is newest update.......

Original strips are now cut into 2 1/2 inch strips

Take 5 strips either 2-3-2-3-2 or 3-2-3-2-3 and sew together

So here are 4 of my blocks that have been sewn into blocks and hanging on design board.

This is going to take some time...but will have to wait till after our little ski weekend...we head to New Jersey to bunk at son's house tomorrow and then onward to Vermont ;-) continuation on this quilt top will have to wait til next week.
Hope to get some sketching done while we are on the road........and maybe some handwork? Time will tell.....

getting back on track ;-)

2011-01-25T16:52:00.001-05:00

So I am still working on getting back on track....meaning both diet-wise,lifestyle-wise and studio-wise. Wouldn't you know it? Just as my hubby becomes a lifetime WW. they go and change the program? I can remember long ago (when I was in my 30's) I also became a lifetime weight watcher. lol of course would not be able to weigh in presently. Well anyway back then they came out with a new program too! I had a horrible time making the adjustment to the new point system lol lol...well now wouldn't you know it WW has switched to a new plus point system??? Thankfully hubby is still planning on attending his "at work" meetings so hope he can help us figure the new plan out so I can keep on track diet-wise?
Next life-style wise I am back to the pool ;-))))) I have accepted that a pool will always be important to me..it just helps my body keep moving. ;-) So not fighting it!
Now studio-wise it has felt good being back to my sewing....right now I am just centering on some good ole fashion strip piecing and actually working on a quilt along...(notice my one blog button- postage stamp quilt along) So I am a little behind since I had to wait for my fabric to arrive, yet when reading posts from others working along with the quilt along I am actually right on track ;-)

sew strips together for postage stamp quilt along

Sew two sets of strips

Cut 2.5 inch rows of strip sets ready to be sewn into blocks

As usual I have quite a few other projects going........you know my lovely attention span needs way too much stimulation and can lack focus.. lol lol .....Oh well not a problem as long as I eventually complete the projects. SO... #1) I am sewing a cloth book for my grand-daughter Charlotte, #2) I finally completed a baby quilt I owed someone ;-) check that off my to-do list.... #3) I'm prepping two other quilt tops...one will be lap quilt for a special buddy of mine and one is for a challenge due in March. Oh and sewing an experiment to create a special 'little kitty' TV blankie for my God-daughter's daughter.

Besides all my studio time recently, last week Friday the hubby and I looked at 8 wonderful houses located in the Eastern Shore area, [ We are trying to find 'the' perfect retirement home].... this weekend we head to Vermont where my hubby will ski for the first time in over 25 years. ;-) He and my son will ski together while my daughter-in-law and I enjoy our grand-daughter Charlotte and the Resort's fabulous aquatic center.
Hmmmmm I will pack my sketchbook to help me keep up with the sketchbook challenge ;-) (see blog button)
So to everyone...Stay creative and see you later.......

Almost caught up

2011-01-20T23:41:00.003-05:00

So I am feeling like I have almost caught up around my studio...lol that feeling might last for a day or two...

I got some free motion quilting completed today on a baby quilt I owe someone and I hope to have the binding on it sometime this weekend, maybe I can pass it on next week. ;-) THEN Check that off my got to-do list!

 I got a couple more sketches into my sketch book...this time completed some in color via markers, I think they were Bic "mark it" pens .... have to say I was not very impressed with the markers, looked cuter in the package...yet they did the trick? 

I also did a couple experimental thread pieces so I could post in a monthly fiber challenge; [this month you were to choose one item from two lists and create something]...I choose cotton muslin and thread...........

so here is one of my sketches AND then a thread drawing of the same...

Experimental thread piece.


*Close up of first thread piece...needs to have color to define I think.*

Tomorrow hubby and I drive over to the Eastern Shores..Cambridge area to explore..We've booked a room at the Hampton so we can stick around a little and see what we can find of interest in the area....Wish us luck....

Re-Organizing!...

2011-01-16T17:15:00.004-05:00

Each year now for the past 7 years my hubby and I end up heading to MI for the Christmas holidays...each year this becomes a struggle for me because though I LOVE celebrating holidays with my family and this year was made even more special because on Dec 27 My folks celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary...I mean how blessed am I??? YES you read that correctly 65 years!! They are the two closest to the front of photo. ;-)

Celebrating 65 years of marriage folks w/3 daughters w/ husbands

YET there is also always a feeling of struggle I go through every year no matter what I do? During our visits I get reminded of "My Stuff" and it always ends up making me feel in limbo! What makes this harder is that no matter how I try to explain to my husband or children what I mean by this expression "I feel in limbo" they do not seem to relate to my feelings or thoughts?
Well I have been dwelling a little on trying to rid myself of these feelings. Sadly My feelings of living in limbo may not be able to completely dissolve until we either move back to the MI residence OR the hubby retires and we finally choose some other area to purchase as our retirement main residence and then finally sell off the MI residence. I feel in limbo because I have stuff, [MY STUFF] in MI and VA.
We live in VA with my hubby's old stuff (meaning before Teddi ;-) along with some items of my stuff (meaning before Bill ;-)..along with some of OUR stuff (which we have purchased since I moved to VA). Yet most of my stuff is in MI, and in VA I have been very low key in a semi temporary state of existence. Funny though temporary is now going towards 8 years.....can anyone relate to my thoughts of being in a state of limbo? Oh well....
This year when we went home to the MI residence to celebrate the holidays, our tenants [Brian and Heather] were the holiday hosts AND they have new family room furniture! My daughter-in-law had the house beautifully decorated, Oneida has NEVER looked better!..
Well I took a lesson from the kids this weekend and bought some new furniture........Bill and I finally after over 7 years have bought a couch,ottoman AND accent chair for our family room for people to actually sit on. I figured I will take the attitude someone shared with me recently..Build it and they will come ;-)))))
So to keep moving forward with what has become my new rule of thumb lately... when buying something new one must get rid of something old ;-)
So we are getting new couch and ottoman but we are getting rid of an oak cabinet from our dining room. I am going to try to keep downsizing and de-junking towards our future move! So my photos this posting are of our family room before photo and in flux photo... waiting for the furniture delivery next week which we have to move some TV cable plugs before the couch is delivered Thursday. My other photos are our dining room revised. ;-)

before family room

in flux family room

revised dining room

revised dining room minus large oak cabinet

revised dining room, freshly hung family antique mirror

Now I am off to my sewing room to reward myself for completing the revision of dining room....next week I revise the kitchen cabinets ;-))))

More Sketching..

2011-01-15T20:23:00.002-05:00

So I must share I am enjoying my new sepia sketch pens... I like to use pens versus pencils when working in my sketchbooks and encouraged my high school students to do the same because I have found that using pens might help one to "just go for it" in other words DON'T dwell on perfection, Ya can't erase pens so just go with the flow and except what you draw.. sketching is meant to be practice. It's a way one can practice hand/eye coordination or should I use the word connection hand/eye connection? The hand and eye working together to help one express what one sees.

So to continue on with the sketchbook challenge January theme highly prized I intend to share a few treasured memories from my years of teaching in public education.
I continued working in my sketchbook today with drawings of my hands...Hands are handy subjects for an artist to draw...You always have a model on hand ;-) lol lol "YEAH bad joke"...but I assume you get my drift...
Tomorrow I think I'll shoot for drawing shoes, another object I had my students use quite often as subject matter to practice drawing what you see ;-) Enjoy!
Now I am off to my sewing room....

Finally....

2011-01-13T19:32:00.002-05:00

I committed myself to participate in a sketchbook challenge back in December. The Challenge began1-11-2011...... Hmmmmmm YET I seem to have had a tough start...? Cannot exactly explain WHY? but?........{Can you spell P-r-o-c-r-a-s-t-i-n-a-t-i-o-n?} So then decided rather then use one of my 5-6 sketchbooks I have laying around the house all the time for me to jot down ideas, etc. I decided to buy a new spiral 5.5x8.5 sketch book AND a new set of SEPIA Faber-Castell artist pens hoping it would help spark me???? FINALLY this morning I forced myself to sit and sketch! This month's theme is highly prized...after giving much thought and procrastination I recently came across a few of my EX-high school students on Facebook [Proud to state they have grown into lovely young adults, some parents ;-))) hate to sound like a proud parent BUT YES I am proud of them as if they were my children.] Anyway back to my story ;-) connecting with a few of my ex-high school students made me remember the olden days that I gave my students weekly sketchbook assignments AND YES they would also balk...so I assume turn about is fair play? or possibly it this is an example of "What goes round comes round?" So "MY" highly prized began with memories of former high school students sketching away, how I used to tell them to practice practice practice ;-) to sit & draw what they see ;-)

I sat today in my highly prized sun porch and drew what I saw! And so it finally begins!

So this was fun and looks to be cute?

2011-01-07T22:05:00.001-05:00

So I am finally getting to try the "disappearing nine patch" to help me complete for another quilt from my list of "I owe you a quilt " ;-) This looks like it is going to be cute! thankfully!
So since I long ago took "The pledge to try to show my process" so here goes....

First sew together 9 patch squares

Take each nine patch square and...

Make first cut

Make second cut now you have 4 new squares.

Take second nine patch and cut.

Take final nine patch and cut.

Place new squares into a design., notice nine patch squares have disappeared,
now complete by sewing quilt top together.

Happy New year to all! It's 2011!

2011-01-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

So to start my year off I have committed to a new challenge...notice the button on my blog that states "sketchbook challenge". click it and join in the fun ..... ;-)
I have always been a true believer in sketchbooks and I have many lying around...usually I have more then one going at once yet sadly none are that organized, most hold bits and pieces of my thoughts, ideas or mini sketches. So my personal challenge is to try to get a little more organized through out this year long challenge when it comes to my sketchbooks. I assume time will tell, but I am thankful that someone got the idea and ran with it and choose to include anyone interested.

So over the holidays while in MI and staying at the MI residence (guests of my youngest son) I made an interesting discovery in one of the closets. A plastic bag of old fabrics along with these wonderful strips of strip piecing I assume my mother had sewn????
So I grabbed the bag to bring back to VA in hopes of possibly completing her creation.


One fun part was discovering my mother actually had sewn part of this strip wrong

So after getting out the seam ripper ;-) quickly correcting the slight mistake I discovered I pinned the strips to my design board to view. Was a nice thought to know my mother must have known what a seam ripper was too! ;-) lol

So now the fun will begin, but first I need to have a discussion with my mom. ;-)

Happy New Year Eve!!!!!

2010-12-31T21:49:00.001-05:00

Hard to imagine but it's almost 2011!!!!!
To begin the year off with a new goal I have signed up for another online challenge:-)
Notice the button on my blog listed sketchbook challenge.....
Well to prepare for the start date of 1/1/2011 I gathered up some of my sketchbooks a few old, a few partly used...and lol a couple completely empty books I discovered in my MI home's basement packed away in boxes unknown a drawback of living in limbo for the last 7 years.... (notice the cute cute funny face pad in my photo.)
So now let the fun soon begin.....happy new year to all!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wonderful Christmas

2010-12-26T23:29:00.001-05:00

So we made it to MI and the holiday so far has been very blessed! I can finally post some photos of some of the quilting I completed during the month of December....thankfully though my back was probably the worst it has ever been I managed to create 4 different quilts and a few 10 minute holiday runners ...I love that quilting worked as my ART THERAPY! Thankfully it made me feel better to be creating ;-)
So one quilt I had a lot of fun making was for our family gag gift exchange....3 years ago my daughter had drawn my name and gave me a group of photos printed on fabric to as she put it to "show me support in my desire to focus in art quilting"... ;-) It was a very cute gag gift at the time and the photos are atrocious... my kids had posed in silly close up facial poses. To add to my idea for the gag quilt if you recall I attended some classes last summer w/ Nancy Crow and anyone that has taken classes with Nancy knows that you spend time creating FABRIC lots of fabric!!!! ;-) So I had a stack of fabric that I had sitting around my studio crying out to be used in some kind of creation! Next enter the fact that I drew my lovely college niece's name and having drawn her a few times in the past I was struggling for something new to surprise her with????? I decided she would be the perfect recipient for this special creation I had in mind. ;-) So I gathered the fabric photos and the Nancy Crow fabrics and began to design....My niece attends college in Upper MI where it is quite cold so a quilt could/would be a handy item to keep in her car in case of break downs ;-) or in a cold apartment and to make sure she understood my reasoning I had a lot of fun in my free motion quilting including the lesson I wanted her to take to heart ;-)
"COUNT ON FAMILY TO CYA".... ;-)

Thankfully she appreciates her God-mother's sense of humor.

and the other 3 quilts I completed during the month of December were:

Quilt on left is a large 9 square block scrap quilt, the quilt on right is brown lap quilt Christmas 2010 present

Christmas present to my daughter-in-law's mother

Surprise/specially designed lap quilt for husband Christmas 2010 present
The large middle square fabric are cut from his deceased mother's house coat (a treasured memory)
He was pleasently surprised.

Okay so placed it right at top for the time being!

2010-12-23T23:38:00.000-05:00

We are headed up north to celebrate the holidays with my folks and most of the family. Will be a quick visit with many time demands if we're to get to visit with as many relatives and friends as possible..some reflective time, possible some a sad farewell to someone special to my husband that the Angels might be calling home far too soon. We hope to get in some kisses and hugs from a couple of the grandkids and if we're lucky Santa will find us and leave plenty of surprises. whoops and we get to celebrate my parents 65th wedding anniversary!! just that alone shows how blessed we are!
I'd like to take this time to wish all a very blessed Christmas and Happy New year!

which before I sign off it brings me back to my title :-) I have been meaning to commit to participating in the sketchbook challenge! Thus my new added button on the blog. funny it seems I have a stack of many sketchbooks all scattered about,always told my students how important sketching is, so I am hoping this challenge will help me become a little more organized. I must admit that though I felt I had not completed my other two challenges I hooked up with this summer I did complete two Christmas quilts as presents thank to the nine patch square challenge this summer and I sadly need to look up the name of the other sew along. Sadly thanks to my injection yesterday my brain is feeling like mush today on recall...something about that twilight they give you...leaves me loopy for days :-)
Leaving on a good note...I have high hopes RE: my injection....time will tell.
Merry Christmas!

Sorry for being absent for a while....

2010-12-20T23:54:00.000-05:00

Wow, I just noticed that I have not been keeping up with my blog. It's amazing how quickly I seem to let my habit of posting slip away? Please tell me some of you are feeling the same?
Possibly I can blame the holiday season or could it be some of the demands I've been putting on myself regarding trying to get some last minute lap quilts completed in time to give as holiday gifts this year? lol..... Add to this some minor yet very frustrating health issues I'm dealing with and boom! Posting somehow got put on a back burner. I have been having some back issues once again which is sadly putting a kink in my day to day living. I am trying to deal with it, have a scheduled injection and some testing scheduled so hoping this too will pass.
I have made a pact with myself to try to get back to my norm which includes posting regularly to my blog. Please wish me luck ;-)

detail

detail of Christmas surprise

On a good note I am finding out that art therapy is good for my soul. I have been able to keep sewing throughout the back issues as long as I don't have to stand up and down a lot. ;-) I managed to complete one of my quilted holiday surprises, wish I could post a photo of the piece but just in case some of my relatives actually read my blog I will resist rather then ruin a surprise. But here's a hint, if you've ever taken classes with Nancy Crow you know students spend a lot of time making new fabrics. Well rather then waste some of my left over fabrics I managed to create the perfect family Christmas exchange gift.
Here are a few detail shots. I promise to post a photo of the gift after Christmas day.....What fun I had making this! I'm pleased with the end result and it's going to be a fun surprise.

It was a semi productive week ;-)))) YAY!

2010-12-04T00:05:00.001-05:00

I've had some fun this week reconnecting with my sewing machines. I managed to quilt two lap quilts on the HQ16 just have to add their binding ;-) and hmmm remember those 9 square blocks someone on facebook convinced me to try this summer?? Well I got that top pieced today and it's ready to put on the HQ16 hopefully Monday morning. ;-) It was total scrap fabrics, wild colors for sure yet think it's going to be cute once I quilt and bind it. "Cheery"
Next up..... I hope to complete a baby quilt I owe a special baby. ;-)
So here's some peeks at this past week's projects...

9 block for fun

lap quilt in browns

UFO strips on muslin to be continued...

Busy busy time of the year....the holidays

2010-11-30T00:44:00.001-05:00

Whoa..........where has this year gone? Can you believe it is December already?
Sadly if you've noticed I have been lax on my postings again too.
Last week I tried to refocus and complete some good ole fashioned functional quilting. "Functional" meaning more utility type items, such as lap quilts which I owe a few of my buddies and then one particular special Christmas present which is to be a surprise. Thus don't look for too many photos presently posted of my various projects.

But let's see...I did complete a scrap nine square block design lap quilt top that I hope to get quilted this week. I also completed a brown lap quilt top. So I have 3 various quilts to try to get on my HQ16 and quilted ASAP.
And thus this posting will have to be short...I NEED to stay focused ;-))) lol and get busy!

Last week besides quilting it was the Thanksgiving holiday and we headed to PA and NJ to celebrate with the kids and grandchildren. After a lovely dinner in West Chester Thurs. we got to explore Intercourse PA on Friday and hmmmmm what else? I purchased some fabric to back the projects I have needing to be quilted. Intercourse was a quaint little tourist city (Amish settlement) not too far from my daughter's house. On Sat. my husband Bill, Keli (my daughter) and I drove over to Cranford, NJ to park in my son's JB's driveway and then we took the train into NY city to see the musical Memphis. What a grand time! Then it was back to VA and home sweet home.

Intercourse PA Quilt Store

Quilt Museum/Country Store, Intercourse PA

Shubert Theater, NY city

Keli and I loved Memphis.

I finally got some sewing done ;-)

2010-11-19T23:18:00.000-05:00

I have no idea why I was letting stuff get in my way of quilting? Thankfully though something finally clicked? (Possibly the knowledge that Christmas is around the bend and slipping up on me much too quickly???) Well no matter what finally gave me the push I needed I have spent the past two days sewing All day! It felt so good!!!! One trick that helped me was to shut down my computer ;-) lol or at least walk away from it.

I am completing some 9 patch squares that I signed up to complete this past summer. lol better late then never. They ended up very glow in the dark ;-) color! It's a complete scrap piece design and I am having fun with them.

In fact they are almost all sewn together and in the end will make someone a nice lap quilt. Secondly I have started on a quilt I've owed someone for about a year? ;-( but I intend to have the quilt completed to present during the Christmas holidays. I found a great square that was easy to cut out and hope to have this quilt top sewn together by Monday since tomorrow my hubby and I intend to go into DC to the 23rd annual Craft Show at the Washington Convention Center and Sunday I have a class Dayton VA on the HQ16.

Here's a peek at the colors of the second quilt top...complete opposite of the glow in the dark lap quilt. lol

I actually have a third lap quilt top almost sewn together (told you I've been focused the past two days) but this quilt is a top secret so I'm not posting a photo just in case the person it's intended for happens to check my blog.... I wouldn't want them to be able to see it ;-)
So I'm sure you can tell....I have been happily sewing and it felt great to be completing some good ole traditional, functional designed quilting this week.
Wish me luck on keeping up my focus. Did I mention my secret has been to walk away from the computer :-0 lol lol lol
oh well y'all have a GRAND weekend!

Finally!

2010-11-16T00:03:00.001-05:00

Wow, I have been BUSY! ;-) I had a trip up north to MI for family visit AND to attend a wonderful wedding celebration! Was so much fun yet tiring...then when we got back it was sort of slow going RE: getting back into the studio. ;-)

The nice thing is when we got back to VA our fall colors were still here ;-) I was afraid I had missed them all. Something about the reds, oranges, and golds of fall.
Isn't this a great view from my quilting room?
Sadly we are losing the colors to browns now...but still such splendor.
So I finally got back to my machine actually have gotten some of the nine squares sewn, so many colors lol might end up being another of my glow in the dark creations.


just sewing the squares so far...

Today I got some studio cleaning done and then suddenly found myself happily completing another design I had begun while studying with Nancy Crow this past summer. Each piece I complete gives me more understanding in the strip piece construction. I am finally feeling a comfort zone. ;-)


black and white design from week two of QBL

It felt good to get back to my machines. Finally got my grand-daughter wall quilt complewted and look forward to hanging it over Thanksgiving visit to PA.
I am soooo behind in my list of projects I want/need to complete. I have decided for the time being that I have a few traditional quilts to focus on since they are owed as gifts to a few special buddies. Of course there is also Christmas holidays coming so I have decided to put my stack of to be quilted aside for a while till a few of "my must get done" projects are checked off my list.
I hope to keep up with my posting while I work through my list and will strive to stay focused. ;-))) WISH ME LUCK!

Always trying to confuse myself ;-)

2010-10-29T00:18:00.001-04:00

So remember those mindless nine block squares I signed on to make this summer (some group on FB or a blog ;-)
Well maybe I should start calling mine 3 block rows instead? lol lol I figured since I finally got Brynn's wall quilt completed I would try to get a couple lap size quilts completed in a hurry just for fun?.. I was calling it my no brainer sewing, just go with the flow..... lol lol Well maybe I should have labeled this brainteasers instead? I always seem to make projects harder then they should be due to my brain's thinking pattern possibly? I'm always asking myself "what if?" Maybe these photos will help you understand what I mean? SO I am learning that sometimes it might just better to go with the flow and NOT ask the "Hmmm what if?" ;-)
Stay tuned......

I first used strips to create 3 rows and cut them to 3 inch blocks started placing them on my design board into various places to create 9 block squares.


Then I asked myself, what IF I really made the various 9 block squares		matchy match?

Finally seeing the end of the tunnel...

2010-10-25T22:26:00.000-04:00

I finally got in a complete afternoon of quilting today ;-) I must admit it felt great! There was some frustration I admit since I had a huge learning curve taking place. I completed the quilting on the wall quilt I've had promised my daughter to decorate Brynn's bedroom wall. I am posting photos showing the process or steps I completed. Tomorrow all I have to do is sew some binding and a hanging sleeve on and it will be complete. ;-) It's always a good feeling to see one of my ideas come full circle and it even totally work out as I designed. ;-) The size of this quilt is 3 ft high and 4 ft wide, perfect to decorate my grand-daughter's new bedrrom of their new PA house.


first painted some primed canvas

cut the canvas in pieces and created a composition


constructing the wall quilt by sewing the pieces of canvas together	....yes that is masking tape versus pins


quilt top loaded on HQ16

Quilting and final piecing

adding some thread work details

close up of quilting

detail close up

finished waiting to be squared up

Surprisingly though the canvas seem to cause thread breakage, the back does not look that bad.;-)

Quilt has been squared up and is ready to have binding. It felt good to be back in the studio!

Just noticed it's been a little over a week?

2010-10-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

Just curious if any other bloggers are losing their habit of posting due to other programs that we tend to use that will give us instant gratification in getting out photos or our thoughts into the Cybercafe-world? Yes, meaning Facebook or other social networking programs? I know these sure have caused a ripple effect in my posting habits. Sadly habits I had worked long and hard on. ;-) lol Oh well...enough excuses...
So I have been a little down this past week fighting my annual begin of fall season allergies so have actually been laying a little low to try to beat a sinus cold. As usual though I try to keep art happening all around me. ;-)

shell grandma created

So if you recall I was visiting my daughter a couple weekends ago to help with some yard work in PA. Before we drove up She had mentioned that she was hoping to create a special Halloween costume for my grandson Caleb. I had to "google" Lightening McQueen since I had no idea who that might be ;-) Heck I'm still stuck in Toy story Land. Anyway I grabbed a few items I had on hand: Core-board, some old film reels and their containers, you know stuff that I am trying to get rid of from my art teaching days ;-)) Sunday before we headed back to VA I began constructing the armature for the car my daughter had in mind, or so I hoped it was what she had in mind? So this is what it looked like before I left. The rest was going to have to be up to Keli to complete since we had run out of time...

Caleb enjoying himself in the Halloween parade

I am thrilled to report that the costume is as my grandson Caleb emailed me "Awesome!!!" and I totally AGREE! Seeing the end result flashed me back to my own childhood.

Finished costume

"My mother used to make us the very best Halloween costumes every year!" I mean she went for the bang, she loved for us to win the best handmade costume award!!! and we did consistently ;-) I would like to thank my daughter for flashing back such great memories!

So the other art that is slowly happening ...I've got the canvas piece loaded and waiting for me to quilt on the HG16, will be interesting to see how the threads and needles work through the canvas, so a definite learning curve.

I have some mindless 9 piece squares going on, (this was actually a challenge posted on some one's blog this summer, I'm a little behind)..lol

I'm still struggling or dragging on completing the re-piecing of my black and white piece I began wk two in July w/Nancy Crow. It amazes me how much a design may change from the original design on design board to the completed sewn piece. I am still working on understanding how to build in the necessary 1/4 seam allowances automatically while designing spontaneously. ;-))) It's starting to become clearer I think? I am determined to have this piece end up as close to my original design as possible so I am having to fudge by adding some extra white or black along the way. I imagine sooner or later my brain will accept this. ;-))) Remember the saying "Practice makes perfect"?

Back to making some art...

2010-10-13T19:46:00.000-04:00

So I am trying to get back to a few of my on going projects. The first project I hope to complete is my grand-daughter's wall quilt. It was requested that the theme be a castle, (think Scottish castle) So here are a few of the steps I have completed so far... I decided to use painted canvas instead of fabric so first step of the process was to paint canvas.
I'm making this a quick post so I can get back to work. Here are photos of the piece so far....
Enjoy my photos and I'll try to be back to post soon.....

Step one: I painted canvas I've taped to my basement floor.

Next cut up canvas and create the composition

Now I sew the pieces together yup that's masking tape instead of pins holding it together

Close up of stitching.

I'm seeing the end of the tunnel ;-)

2010-10-07T15:50:00.000-04:00

So my purging and re-organizing is still under way but I am getting closer though to the end of my tunnel.... To reward myself I took some time off during the past few days to just sit and sew ;-). I completed piecing my little Crow piece and I am pleased to be done with it! I should state " it is as done as it will be" since I do not have anymore of the fabric from this assignment so it became sort of became a point of "just be happy with what you got". I keep remembering though as mentioned in one of my older postings: " It's an exercise /or assignment...we complete them to learn from them. YAY!!!! I am ready to move forward.... ;-) lol

Hard to see in this photo but this is strips of painted canvas

So today besides doing some endless paperwork, listing some old books online hoping to sell off cheaply to new homes, along with completing some other stuff I got back to working on my castle wall quilt. I am creating this piece for my grand-daughter Brynn's room. I have the composition basically set and will begin to piece the canvas into one large piece and then detail or quilt it on my HQ16.
Possibly by next week I can get this piece completed and sent off. It's a shame I did not center on the piece this week since we head to PA tomorrow to return my grand-dog Rogue back to the daughter's family (we've been dog sitting).
We get to visit the grand-babies ;-) but also have 2 days of yard work ahead of us. We are going to help them tear out most of the old landscaping around their new/old house. [They moved from Denver CO to PA this past June and we had told them when they moved in that we would come in the fall to help.] Wish us luck! All we can do it try. I sure hope the old bushes, etc. there presently are not too deep rooted ;-) our poor old bones...

Took a break and got re-aquainted with my machine for an evening...

2010-10-05T12:53:00.000-04:00

So enough was enough purging...I took some time last night to sew and am trying to complete the little study that was assigned this past summer during my two week stint with Nancy Crow. It's been staring at me from design board for weeks ;-) ha-ha so imagined this figured into my purging and re-organizing chores. This needs to be finished and tucked off as a learning experience. ;-) Some have asked me why finish it? 'Heck the class is over, so just chuck it?' My thoughts though are: "It's meant to be an exercise or learning opportunity and if I chuck it what have I learned?" I do believe the more practice pieces or exercises I complete the more I learn about piecing or designing my own work.

My original design pinned on board.

I am always amazed at how designs can change as I sew the pieces together. If the design were a symmetrical design the shrinkage would be much easier to control or possibly be balanced. Here are some photos to hopefully help you understand what I am attempting to share or discuss.

The process: First sew strips of fabric together selvage to selvage, Strips are 3/4 inch on up.
After you have completed your strips cut them into shapes and then work the shapes into a design.
When you are content with your design complete the piece by sewing the pieces together.
Sounds simple ;-) but when you are new to this process you don't automatically remember that the pieces will lose 1/4 inch on the edges as you piece them, and this can drastically change the design. Remember some of these strips are already sewn into little puzzle like pieces.


Piece so far, think small 12in x 13in..

Hoping you can follow what I mean when I say this is a definite learning exercise at least for me. Each piece I complete I feel I come closer to understanding the process of piecing and how it will play a huge part in my own design process. I feel I am getting close to understanding the shrinkage in this technique.
Now to coordinate this process with the way my brain thinks. ;-) lol...
JUST Remember be spontaneous and No over-analyzing!

detail


detail

Just a quick post.

2010-10-04T20:47:00.000-04:00

Anyone interested in books about various art mediums?

So as you might have guessed I am still at it!....I have been very busy purging AND along the way I'm trying to re-organize my working areas. Yes sadly it is taking me longer then I would hope, but thankfully it is feeling good to finally have the opportunity and I am actually centering on the trying to DE-junk part of the process. I'm assuming we all can relate to how difficult it is to let go of things? Add to that 35 years of teaching Rrt grades k-12, which usually came along with very low budgets which helps a teacher get into the habit of saving, collecting, etc. As I used to tell my student's parents, "Remember one mans junk could be some one elses treasure". ;-)
Yep I can also hear some of you asking; but didn't she retire over a year ago? Why didn't I purge then? To be honest, I have been blessed with so many opportunities this past year that I have not really had time to focus on the effort to purge! (Actually I did do some major purging as I packed up and cleaned my final school art room.)....oh and add possibly that my attention span can be a little ADHD. ;-)))) I like to flutter here and there in my art. For example last year I did some sewing of utilitarian quilt items; such as Christmas stockings, banners, then I created 160 wedding invitations for a special bride we know, I created a few baby quilts w/coordinating chairs,a long with my wall ART quilt pieces to give you a few examples.
OH well back to the topic at hand! I AM PLUGGING AWAY! I do see the end of the tunnel ;-) and hope to stay on task to meet my goal. ;-) Enjoy your week....

Discipline?

2010-09-30T00:06:00.002-04:00

A FB buddy posted this comment today: "Discipline is making the choice between what you want now and what you want most" Author Unknown...

This got me thinking? I've been lamenting that my focus as of late felt off since I could not stick to just one project. So Question? Do you feel that discipline? or focus? plays a larger part in the scheme of staying on task or feeling productive?  Last Spring I had developed a decent pattern or schedule of working in my studio on my art quilting or other art. I also felt more focused in one medium. Lately I've been pulled in so many directions I started feeling that I was drifting from my focus of being productive in my quilt art. 

I have many different art interests pulling me in different directions right now but when I read my buddy's post today along with something another good friend of mine shared with me about not putting so many deadlines on myself, I suddenly felt like a light bulb went off. ;-)) RELIEF!

So I am regrouping...I've decided I will not feel guilty for having so many diverse projects that I want to complete right now. Don't mistake my post to mean I am putting my quilting away? On the contrary I intend to continue towards gaining discipline in all my art...no matter what the medium is for the time being..."Art makes me fulfilled so it is definitely something I will continue to participate in"...

EZprint screens

Presently I am attempting to rearrange my upstairs studio and get my unfinished projects under control. Of course while cleaning I get distracted at times....lol such as yesterday when I discovered some old EZprint and decided I would use it before it goes bad. ;-) Can't wait to try these screens out on some of my hand dyed fabric. I bet they will add some interest to a few pieces I was not completely thrilled with.

The printing process will have to wait till a few of my other UFO's have been completed.

Next up on my list is a project I have in mind with colored glass ;-) I worked this morning in my basement workroom to try to get it back under control. Notice how I've got my glass organized and waiting patiently? I'll give my good buddy Patti 'a hint' as promised.....think colored glass and an old wood window with the glass panes intact. ;-)  I am looking forward to this project as soon as the upstairs studio is clean and reorganized. 

Remember I'm working towards discipline ;-)))lol

batik waiting to have wax ironed off

Okay, so when one starts cleaning and reorganizing you might discovered treasures you've forgotten about? Such as these pieces of batik that I need to iron the wax off of so I can see the beautiful crackled designs that true batik creates and then decide where I might put the pieces to use. 

To regroup or summarize what I've learned? "It is okay to have many ideas pulling me this way or that as long as I strive towards my discipline." 

In fact I will try to no longer lament about my lack of focus while I flutter here or there...instead I will appreciate that I have many questions of "what if?" or "wow I wonder?"  and just RUN WITH IT!

Focus???? what's that?

2010-09-28T22:56:00.002-04:00

Lately I am finally feeling like we've been home ;-) which has been helpful YET I still feel so behind?

I have so many projects I WANT to do and so little time? My focus has been off? For example: I want to do a stain glass mosaic, actually two ;-) and did find a stain glass store in Springfield nearby to buy some nice colored glass to add to my old collection. My problem is I have other projects I feel I need to get to first? See this pile of fabric? I had gathered this selection the other day to create my grand-daughter's owed wall quilt? Focused?

Ha! it may look that way but NOT!

So the next photo is the newest focus for the piece.
[My daughter had expressed an interest in a painted and quilted piece versus just a fabric quilt?
Similar to one of my older wall quilt's technique.]

Okay so I decided to run with the suggestion and began working up a partial painting and some painted canvas to create something for Brynn's room. Oh yeah, a castle was also requested.

But still as far as MY focus? Hmmmmmmmm let's see? I have sadly about 5 projects pulling me every which way which is definitely causing a kink!

Notice the boxes in the far left corner?

They are calling to me to finish packing them up for the local high school art teachers.

Believe it or not,
I DID have this area cleaned up last week and now hmmmm let's see?
I have at least 4 other projects now set up down here, calling out to me, so how's that for FOCUS??

Okay so maybe by now you're getting my drift? I need help ! Soooo many ideas going on at once!
MAYBE Time to possibly get back to making a daily list and sticking to it?

So I intend to back track a little ;-)

2010-09-22T17:44:00.002-04:00

So yesterday while laying low after a facet injection I started sitting and thinking a little too much! lol Try to remember I had set a goal to NOT over analyze my designs or creations; YET I found myself sitting there saying to myself hmmm "what if? OR I could add this or take this away?" thus yesterday's post. Funny but after looking at my Tues. posting (and the photos I included in the post) I've decided to just stick with my original design for the quilt assignment.
So now that I made this decision, "I HOPE to stick with the resolution to NOT over analyze what I design in my future! After all isn't this supposed to be spontaneous and fun? ;-) lol
I spent the afternoon at our neighborhood pool rehabbing, turned out I was a little sore yet have high hopes RE: my latest facet injection. and tonight I intend to get re-acquainted with my sewing machine. I need to try to get the last two designs pieced together. Tata for now......

hmmm didn't I set one of my goals to NOT

2010-09-21T21:24:00.002-04:00

Over-analyze? Yet is it over analyzing if we feel we just might not have our best design possible?
So today I was low key due to having a facet injection in the morning, had resolved myself to just have a take it easy day ;-) ...but the little green and blue design I have on my design board was calling to me.....
So I have come up with two possible ways to construct the piece...at least so far...lol Reminder: Assignment was to create a small busy piece using the same fabrics of the 4ft x 4ft design. We were to use only two fabrics for the designs. This assignment was given during my week two of classes under Nancy Crow / QBTL 2010. Care to give input or opinions? So now what do I do? ;-)))