I took a vacation from my blog.

Can you believe it is the last day of 2013? I don't know about anyone else but  WHOOSH, skip and a jump is how I feel the year has flown by.

So many blessings through out the year, then of course add a few trials and tribulations lots of joy and there you have it, the year has passed.

I admit this past year was the worst for me RE: posting on my blog, not sure I can explain why or give any excuses as to why I let the habit of posting about my art creations or my day to day life slipped away.

Tomorrow is the start of a brand new year, the time for new beginnings I'm told SO as my New Year resolution I have set a goal to get back on track and back to journaling via my blog.

While I am here I might as well post a little teaser about what's on my design board today...

A couple of quilting buddies and I belong to a nearby Modern Quilt guild and throughout the country a challenge was posted "The basics Challenge with Riley Blake Designs" Members that were interested each received 6 fat eighths from their basic category fabrics. 

Members may make anything they wish with the fabric as long as it is quilted. 

Deadline is in mid Feb 2014.

Here are some pics to show the evolution (so far) of my project.

I choose to begin with some simple 4 piece blocks (2 sizes)

Discovering that this was not going to make a very large quilt top I decided to regroup.

 Rules state that you may use the 6 fat 8ths they gave you and are allowed to add any solids you might want or any Riley Blake fabrics, that is it!

Tried using my paint program to see if I might want to stretch the size of the quilt top by using various solids.

Finally came up with a plan which will use lots of white as the main solid. 

Thankfully the quilt top seems to be coming along without any troubles.

My design board today.

Happy New Year to all.

So many choices now to find the time

The Keystone quilters (my local quilt guild) had a guest speaker come in and not only present a great presentation but also a workshop using her technique to make scrappy quilts with very little fabric waste. Her technique entails sewing strips of fabric to create a new fabric from which you could then cut out a template to use to create your quilts. For my template I discovered one of my mom' sold quilting rulers ( a 60 degree ruler) worked perfectly.

I also have been trying to stick by my resolution to use my present stash for my new creations so for this creation I grabbed the many brown fat quarters I was gifted at my 60th birthday party a couple summers ago. As you will probably be able to see from the photos the technique gives one many possibilities MAYBE too many lol.

 

This is as many triangles as I managed to complete yesterday and sadly this will have to take a back burner for proabably a month while the hubby and I go to help get some painting done at one of the kids home then there is the guilds big quilt show next week (which of course we members put on so lots of work to be done) and then more painting to be done but in FL.

hope to try to get back to blogging more yet betting I will not be quilting much for almost a month :-( will have to find some thing art wise to fill my soul during the sabatical.

So until...be good and hope you are enjoying a great fall.

Plugging along and having fun

So week two and three have sort of blended together for me in my abstraction class. I am feeling a sense of growth but also some frustration or feelings of being too literal or holding back in my exploration of art quilting. It's funny I have been able to gain a confidence in my design work of functional quilts but now I need to gain that confidence into my wall designs. I am completing pieces so far that show no risk, I need to learn to break the boundaries I seem to have set for myself. Instead of so literal I need to try to simplify more. Time to keep plugging away.
So here are a few of the things I have accomplished the past two weeks.

Abstracted landscape pieced with my own marbled fabrics
Homework #2

photo inspiration

I used my IPAD app to design

Added color using the IPAD app
Now to create the idea

Homework week 3 Abstracted object/s
NOT abstracted sadly if you ask me, I need to simplify, but it was fun.

Finally got my larger Nancy Crow piece quilted after having it sit in the pile much too long!
Still one of my favorite pieces to date. Now to get it hung up.

Close up of the Nancy Crow inspired piece, color is not correct in this photo.

Next up to piece together, my own design using some of my marbled fabrics and solid kona cotton.
Time to sign off and get to the work!  ENJOY…see you later it's time to sew.