Week in Review 2014 - 01/31

Gwyned Trefethen posing in front of her piece,
Botswana Bounty.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I got my hair cut this week. It is about half the length I was sporting in this relatively recent picture of me in front of Botswana Bounty. I am in the minority. I have never dyed my hair. I think of that choice not obsessively, but frequently. I prefer the contrast of salt and pepper hair to an all over brown or even the auburn I would be tempted to try if I ever did dye my hair. I feel fortunate to make many conscience choices like this and have no regrets. There are so many choices to make when quilting: which quilt to make, what fabric to use, what techniques to use, which tools to use and one of the biggest choices for me, whether to attempt to earn a living as a quilt artist. I really admire those who can support themselves with their art. I am also acutely aware of how much time is spent to achieve this. Also, how much of their income comes not from selling their quilts, but from lecturing, writing books and selling other products. I am comfortable with my wishy washy stance of doing what I love, being grateful when I sell a piece, but not being driven to spend the time to develop my passion into a sustaining career.

One of the advantages of not writing books, touring the country lecturing, selling my wares at quilt festivals or teaching on-line is that I get to spend more time in the studio doing what I love, making art. Here is how I spent last week:

1) Got Jazz - This is an invitational for Fiber Artists Coalition. It has been giving me conniptions. I did do some research into an idea I had based on using my 9 degree wedge ruler. I think it just might work.

a) Select the fabrics - Not yet.
b) Plan out the basics of the quilt - Part way there.
c) Start the quilt - Not yet.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Continue piecing the arms from hexagons. - So close. I will probably finish today!
b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt. - Not yet.

3) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson. - Done!

Leah Day's free motion quilting motif - Kidney Stones

I loved this motif. It was easy to execute and I think, very aesthetically pleasing. 

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

My take on Marieke Blokland's
mixed media assignment.

Our teacher this week was Marieke Blokland. Her instruction was so good that I was actually able to create highlights and shadows by layering paint on the face and then use what I learned to do a similar layering on the arms. Marieke is known for her exaggerated faces with large luscious lips and fanciful hair. 

5) Tumbling Blocks I - 

a) Finish cutting out the blocks. - Done!

b) Cut out the background pieces. - Done! OK, not really. I decided that I didn't need the challenge of all these extra pieces just so that the tumbling blocks around the perimeter could be seen in their entirety. This is a gift for a nursery, not a quilt I am planning on entering into a show. I opted to cut myself some slack, especially since I have a very tight deadline with a show quilt.

c) Start piecing the quilt. - Done! This is proving to be more time consuming than I thought. Fortunately the pieces are easy to line up and with some judicious pinning most of the points are meeting as they should or close enough so that only someone with their nose to the quilt can see the lack of alignment. 




6) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall - a commissioned quilt - 

a) Draft the contract - Not yet.
b) Select the fabric - Partially done.
c) Start piecing the quilt - Not yet.

Next week I must stick to my convictions and remember that the choices are mine and stay confident in the choices I make. Here are the next steps in my current commitments:

1) Got Jazz - Due March 15th

a) Select the fabrics
b) Plan out the basics of the quilt
c) Start the quilt

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Finish piecing the arms from hexagons.
b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt.

3) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

5) Tumbling Blocks I - Continue piecing the quilt.

6) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall - a commissioned quilt

a) Draft the contract
b) Select the fabric
c) Start piecing the quilt


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Weekly in Review 2014 - 1/24

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

The best of the bunch from a series
of lessons directed by Carla
Sonheim as part of Life Book 2014.

I have been thinking a lot about facing one's demons. Some days I am better at it than others. I have been dancing around what to do about my Got Jazz quilt for months. It feels like that scene from The Cat in the Hat where every fix to remove the red spot just makes it worse. Not only do I dislike the piece more and more, but the dislike seems to be permeating into my ability to derive satisfaction from my other work as well. Everything feels like a struggle. That is why I so love Carla Sonheim's attitude and exercises. Carla is a mixed media artist who teaches both on-line and off and has written several books, including Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists that I highly recommend. Carla was our host artist for last week's lesson as part of Life Book 2014. The drawing assignments starting in the upper left corner and moving clockwise were to:

1) Draw an everyday object using your non-dominant hand;
2) Draw a giraffe with a single line;
3) Create an imaginary flower from two pieces of patterned paper and a black pen; and
4) Make a blob of paint, then look for an animal in the blob and bring it to life. Just looking at my elephant practicing yoga brings a smile to my face.

Between a quick, but fruitful trip to visit my family back east and my frustration about what to do about my Jazz quilt, it feels like a miracle that I accomplished as much as I did these past two weeks. Here is how my studio time was used:

1) Take Three - Decide whether the piece is finished, if it needs something else to bring it to life or whether I should scrap it and start over. - Done!

This is moving to the hidden land of WIPs. It is just too distressing for me to look at. Instead I am playing with a totally new concept in my head. 

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Continue piecing the arms from hexagons. - I have approximately 2/3 of the hexagons pieced for this segment.

b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt. 

3) Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Lesson - Done!

Yippee! Leah has returned to adding a weekly video lesson with a new free motion quilting design. This one is called Earth Flower. 

Earth Flower - a Leah Day design with a few
Gwyned Trefethen tweaks.

I had fun playing with Leah Day's Earth Flower motif. Leah opted to create a spider web in the middle of her flower. I went for more of a sunflower seed look. Also Leah left the space between her petals open. I wanted to add a filler and selected a simple micro stipple. I did the whole thing without breaking the thread and very little travel stitching. This is the perfect project to get me out of a funk. I am so, so grateful that Leah has decided to share weekly free motion quilting motifs again.

Life Book 2014 lesson taught by
Kelly Hoernig.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - 2/3 done. I did the first half of the lesson from the week before taught by Carla Sonheim. I couldn't do the second part because I needed to buy supplies in order to accomplish it. Kelly Hoernig's lesson was one that involved layer upon layer of collage. This forced to me to face one of my personal challenges with mixed media - I have an aversion to touching anything wet. It is why I shy away from most surface design techniques and love piecing and stitching - no mess, limited clean-up and no creepy, crawly feeling by touching something wet or worse, wet and slimy. The point behind the lesson was to combine three favorite things. I choose leaves, feathers and glitter. 

Tumbling Blocks I

5) Tumbling Blocks I - 

a) Finish cutting out the blocks. - Almost. You can see how much progress I made. 

b) Work out the final layout of the blocks. - Done. I tried several layouts. Since this will hang in baby's nursery I went for a simple but eye catching symmetrical design.

c) Cut out the background pieces. - Not yet.


Now that I don't have the Jazz Trio quilt hanging over my head, I am eager to attack my work next week. I won't get it all done, but I do have a plan and here it is:

1) Got Jazz 

a) Select the fabrics
b) Plan out the basics of the quilt
c) Start the quilt

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Continue piecing the arms from hexagons.
b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt.

3) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

5) Tumbling Blocks I - 

a) Finish cutting out the blocks.
b) Cut out the background pieces.
c) Start piecing the quilt.

6) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall - a commissioned quilt

a) Draft the contract
b) Select the fabric
c) Start piecing the quilt


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Weekly Report 2014 - 01/10

Warding off the inner critic

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

If you follow my blog, then you know I signed up to do Life Book 2014, a series of mixed media lessons taught by a slate of talented practitioners of this art form. The classes cover more than mixed media, they are designed to silence the inner critic, to let go of perfectionism and to let one play. Since I have zero formal art training and have only taken one mini drawing class several decades back I am truly a neophyte. I find it both humbling and freeing to be a beginner. I expect a learning curve. I don't expect to create a museum worthy master piece. So, why am I so hard on myself when it comes to making art quilts? Why does every piece have to exceed the previous one? I really don't have an answer. Just an unreasonable belief that if I have done it (doesn't matter what the it is) before than I ought to be able to do it again or even exceed my bench mark the next time round.

1) Take Three - Decide whether the piece is finished or if it needs something else to bring it to life. - I am still deliberating about this piece. My latest thought is I might be able to crop out a portion that I like and scrap the rest.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Start piecing the arms from hexagons. - Done!
b) Baste the face and body to the quilt. - I am waiting to finish the arms before attaching the three assembled hexagon pieces to the quilt.

3) Life Book 2014 - Do this week's assignment. - Done!

This was a fascinating process. It began with a guided meditation via video to find our inner guardian, color and word for the year. I was pretty skeptical, with a caviler what is the worst that can happen attitude, figured I would give it a try. I kept my eyes closed for the full 15 minutes and let Tamara Laporte's words wash over me. I was surprised to find myself staring at single cat's eye in a misty, pulsating wash of rich honey colored atmosphere. My word wasn't quite as clear. However, the ebb and flow and pulsating nature of the atmosphere lead me to the word - undulate. This is the pace of my life, a steady rhythm of energy and relaxation. 

The second part of the lesson was to watch Tam create her personal inner guardian, a charming, sweet girl with long locks and butterfly wings. My inner guardian, by comparison, is more fierce and all knowing. I think of it like the Greek version of the evil eye, where you wear an evil eye to ward off the evil eye. Frankly, I was shocked to see that 99% of the people who posted their mixed media inner guardian angels did some version of Tam's. There were one or two animals, but mine was the biggest departure. 

My inner guardian angel whose job it is
to protect me from dismissing, belittling
or in away disparaging my work.

We had a second mini lesson this week. This focused on creating a mixed media piece with the guide "What I want most of in 2014 is… I realized I wanted understanding. I want to understand others, I want to understand myself and I want to get a better understanding of all these new supplies and materials I am working with doing mixed media journaling. 






4) Tumbling Blocks I - Cut out more of the blocks. - Done!

When I wasn't messing around with smearing and layering paint, I was cutting out my tumbling blocks. I did sew a few together just to prove that I am cutting them correctly. I still have another 33% or so to cut of the tumbling blocks. I have been playing with different layout ideas on my design wall. It is impossible to light the design wall well for photography, but the pictures should give you some idea of the work involved.

The gradations between the three
tumbling blocks are very, very subtle.
However, in good light they are visible
from six feet away. Once I have the black
and white blocks laid out to my satisfaction,
I will add a few red blocks.

This image shows the three variations of black
and white tumbling blocks.

Next week is a short week for me due to other commitments. This is where I hope to focus my attention over the next two weeks.

1) Take Three - Decide whether the piece is finished, if it needs something else to bring it to life or whether I should scrap it and start over.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Continue piecing the arms from hexagons.
b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

4) Tumbling Blocks I - 

a) Finish cutting out the blocks.
b) Work out the final layout of the blocks.
c) Cut out the background pieces.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Week in Review - 2014 - 01/03

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I have a confession to make. It has been years, perhaps even decades, since I made a New Year's resolution. Why? Because more often than not the goals attempted in a New Year's resolution aren't achieved and it becomes just one more thing to beat myself up about. Instead I prefer to focus on much smaller more attainable goals that over time surprise me with just how far I have come. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I so love taking classes that peak my curiosity or promise to teach me something I long to be better at. I particularly enjoy that my classes aren't affiliated with a degree or even a grade removing the pressure to master everything so that I can regurgitate it at the end of the term. I am free to play! 

Here are the classes I have taken over the past few years that I highly recommend to others:

1. Leah Day provides lessons on free motion quilting. She just started up a new course that is sure to be a winner for anyone wanting to become confident in free motion quilting. 

2. Craftsy.com has lessons on all things craftsy whether you want to decorate a wedding cake, sew your own custom fitted garment or like me want to know how to paint on fabric to create highlights and shadow.

3. If you write a blog, run an Etsy shop or maintain your own website, then you know how important it is to have good pictures to support your prose. I turned to Ed2Go for a class on Photoshop Elements.

4. This year I will be taking a mixed media class hosted by Tamara Laporte titled Life Book 2014. What really sparked my interest about this class is that the course is taught by over 20 different mixed media artists. Each of the artists take a turn teaching one or two or more of the classes each week.

1) Jazz Trio - Add the figures to the stage. - Done!

Take Three

2) Leah Day's weekly assignments:

a) Foundation Piecing - 

i) Baste the face and body to the quilt. - I am waiting to do this until I have the arms pieced.
ii) Start piecing the arms from hexagons. - I am still basting the hexagons. I should start piecing the arms next week.

b) Free Motion Quilting - Leah Day is starting a new class. I won't be taking it since she is getting back to basics and I don't need a refresher course. I am going to miss the excuse to try a new Free Motion Quilting motif each week.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do this week's assignment. - I have done the first assignment and begun this week's second assignment.

Life Book 2014 Week 1 Assignment

The gist of the assignment was to start the page by writing out all the negative thoughts and fears I have about making art. It was done in pencil. You can see the writing under the paint. Then using layer upon layer of technique including water-soluble colored pencils, gesso, splatter paint, stamping and dragging painting with a hard edge the negativity is covered up. Finally two hearts are added one being my vulnerable self the other being my supportive voice. The words in ink are being spoken from the supportive voice to my more timid vulnerable self.

The second assignment is to create a mixed media piece portraying my Inner Guardian Angel, or the supportive voice. 

4) Tumbling Blocks I - Cut out more of the blocks. - Done! I have 25% of the quilt cut out, including cutting off the corner tips for ease of precision piecing. I figured out that I will need more than 1,500 pieces to make this quilt. 

One thing is for sure, I am not going to run out of things to do in my studio next week. Here are some of things I will be working on.

1) Take Three - Decide whether the piece is finished or if it needs something else to bring it to life.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Start piecing the arms from hexagons.
b) Baste the face and body to the quilt.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do this week's assignment.

4) Tumbling Blocks I - Cut out more of the blocks.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.