Week in Review 2014 - 08/29

The first leaf in Night Vision is nearly done.
The stem down the middle will be wider. I pinned
the narrow stem strip in place just for the picture.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Ernestine Ulmer, a little known, but often quoted author wrote, "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." Later Jaques Torres paraphrased the quote to the more familiar, "Life is short. Eat dessert first." No matter who said it or which quote you prefer it is an adage worth heeding. Too often the drive to take care of chores, work and that ever expanding list of to do items keeps us from our studio.

One question I and other artists are asked frequently is how do you have the time to do art? The answer for me is simple, I eat dessert first. I have made art and not dust bunnies my priority. By making art my priority and therefore making it a regular committed part of each week, the non art part of my week doesn't feel as arduous.

Nora's Rose 

My "dessert" this week was:

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Continue the piecing - Done

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done

I had been wanting to give Nora's Rose a try ever since Lori Kennedy showcased this free motion quilting motif on her blog. Once again, I tweaked the pattern a bit. My roses look more peony like and the leaves have been completely echoed from the inside out. It just happened that way. You can see the original pattern here. 

Detail from Nora's Rose practice piece.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done.

I have no images from LifeBook this week because the assignment was to watch an artist interview. 


Some desserts never loose their temptation. Here is what I plan on "eating" for dessert next week:




1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Continue the piecing

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.


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

Week in Review 2014 - 08/22

Lola - studio companion

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

You may recall Lola, my studio companion. I can always count on her to make sure my fabric doesn't float away. She is a soothing influence as I adapted many techniques gleaned over the years to create a step by step process of piecing Night Vision.

Freezer paper templates after marking the first
leaf to be pieced.

Several weeks ago I shared the various cartoons/blue prints I create in order to have the basic lines and breaks of the piece as well as freezer paper templates. The following week I decided which leaves were on top or under each other, as well as where the light and shadow will fall. At the same time I chose some leaves to have a more blue cast and others to have a more yellow cast. I marked my primary blue print with these choices.

Check out the notches, orientation marks and seam line.
These can be seen whether the fabric is right side or
wrong side up.

This week I began working on the lowest leaf. I broke it into segments by value for piecing. If you click on the image of the freezer paper templates you should see such cryptic notes as B D2. This segment would be part of a  Blue green leaf with a Dark value, but not the darkest. Most fiber artists audition fabric to see how one fabric works next to another. I tend to work more mathematically, thinking of my fabric like musical scales going from light to dark. I have been doing this for years. Rarely do I ever need to replace a fabric because it doesn't work. I still place my work as it progresses on my design wall, just to be certain. 

Organza is used to "darken" a fabric

There are also numerous Xs and single, double and even triple lines along the edge of the segments. These are orientation marks for where seams will intersect - the X's or where seams need to be matched, the lines. This is the same method used by dress makers. I transfer all these marks, first with a chalk pencil and then by cutting notches, when I cut out the segment with a very generous seam allowance. The actual seam line is stitched with water soluble thread. This way I can be completely oriented whether I am working on the right side or wrong side of the fabric.

This is where much of my week was spent, making
yards of piping and bias tubes.

There are several sections of Night Vision where there are gaps between the leaves and things get very, very dark. I don't have, couldn't find and don't want to spend the time dying/painting new fabric, the very dark green that I needed for these few small pieces. My solution? I overlaid a dark gray organza over my darkest green fabric. It is stitched in place with water soluble thread so that it won't shift when the combined fabric is seamed in place.

The first two pieces are ready to be seamed. I position
them on my fabric blue print and design wall. This way
I can verify that value changes are sufficient and
that I have more than enough seam allowance and
"trim" along the outside border of the quilt.

Night Vision is going to use yards and yards and more yards of piping along the leaf edges and bias tubes to create the leaf veins.  I learned how to make bias tubes back when Baltimore Album quilts were revived by Elly Sienkiewicz. The advantage to bias tubes is that they have two turned under edges and the fabric is cut on the bias. This gives a nice finish and the tubes curve without difficulty. Of course Elly would have hand stitched everything down. I would have enjoyed this, but just don't have the time. So, I stitch my tubes in place using my machine's blind stitch. 

I read for respite

It was a full week of steady progress. However, if all you do is look at the design board, or check out my weeks progress report it doesn't look like much. 

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Start the piecing - Done!

OK, technically I still haven't seamed two pieces together, but I have cut out and prepared the first two pieces in preparation for getting seamed together. Close enough according to Lola, my studio supervisor.

2) Free motion quilting practice. 

Not this week. I was too busy catching up from time away and creating bias tubes.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done!

I think my muse is saying, " Go
outside and play."

I had two assignments to do this week, since I was away from studio the week before and needed to play catch up. Play is the operative word since both assignments focused on play and respite. The first was to create a mixed media piece that showcased what you turned to daily to relax with. I realized that for me that is reading. I always have at least two books going at a time. One sits on my night stand for bedtime reading. The other is an audio book that I listen to while I work in my studio, do the laundry, get dressed, open and close up the house or basically any task that I can do as I listen. 

The second assignment was literally just to tap into your inner child by playing. Students were encouraged to use new tools to apply the paint, squeeze the paint directly on the page and try things you wouldn't ordinarily do. For example, I only colored in some of the petals on the page to see how that would look.


Hopefully, now that I am caught up and have a generous supply of bias tubes at the ready my progress will be more visible next week. My goals remain much the same.

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Continue the piecing

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.


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

Week in Review 2014 - 08/08

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

These are the reference papers I am using
for Night Vision. They helped when it comes
time to work out my light source and
shadow placement as well as determining the
order of the leaves.

I have noticed that the importance of play has been in the news recently. It is just as important for well being and skill building in pets, children and adults. A quick google search produced an article that underscores this conjecture. I know I need to get cranking on Night Vision if I have any hope of making the deadline. I also know that I want to include some new techniques and even technology in this quilt. So what do I do? I spend the week playing. 

I have this idea to edge the leaves in Night Vision with piping. I haven't made piping in several decades. Thank goodness for the internet where I quickly located a how to make piping guide. What can I say? I was so delighted with how well my test piece worked out, I continued to play, by experimenting with a new free motion quilting design and then couldn't resist seeing if I could create a second motif with a very different texture for a possible small quilt. And so the week went. Lots of fun research. Lots of experimentation. No real visible progress on Night Vision. However, I am optimistic that all this play means that when I do get down to work most of the kinks and problem solving will have already been resolved.

Last week all the fabric I pulled was stacked in one
big pile. This week I arranged it by blue greens vs
yellow greens and an array of browned greens. The
narrow perpendicular fabrics are the ones I will be
using for the leaves's stems and veins. I also started pulling
out my thread choices. Now I have a good sense of
any gaps I need to fill. 

Of course the week wasn't 100% play. It just felt like it. Here is how the week went:

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Start the piecing - Not yet. However, I did make good progress on analyzing the image for where I want a light source and where I want shadow. I've marked the master plan accordingly. I also marked the plan for the order of layering of the leaves. In other words which leaves are on above or below others. 

The Electric Paisley motif is on the left. The piping
is the olive serpentine line running between the two fabrics.
I played with different sized circles on the right for fun
and contrast.

2) Free motion quilting practice. Done!

I returned to Leah Day for a possible motif to use on some of my leaves. Her Electric Paisley seemed perfect. I gave that a whirl on one of the fabrics I will be using in Night Vision with a thread I wanted to audition. I'm pleased with the result.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done!

My girl looks more pensive than happy.
I had so much fun working with these bright,
cheerful colors that it has me questioning
why I don't turn to this palette more often.

The mood for the week was set when I started this week's Life Book assignment. Each assignment arrives first thing Monday morning. This week it was titled "Turning a Negative into a Positive with Micki Wilde." The lesson began with the dictate to select "your happiest colors" for the background. I was surprised by how the statement and then putting it into practice just lightened the mood. 

My plan for the next week I spend in the studio is the same as last week's. However, the same plan will, I am sure, result in very different results. The plan is:

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Start the piecing

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.


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

Week in Review 2014 - 08/01

Reference photos, sketches and tracings
currently on my design wall as I make Night Vision.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Before I start assembling a new work I create the foundation. In this case I am using the architectural meaning of a foundation, that aspect of the work upon which the remainder of the work will rest. For me, the foundation of a quilt is composed of strong lines and a focal point. I am easily tempted to rush the early stages and start piecing the work without a reasonably clear vision of how to best assemble the work. In the case of Night Vision there are many different ways to piece it. For instance I could use raw edge appliqué, turned appliqué secured by machine or hand turned and sewn. I could use large swaths of fabric for each leaf, piece each leaf segment by segment or even breakdown each leaf segment in multiple pieces. 

The .pdf of the 9" x 12" drawing has
been blown up to a scale of
approximately 36" x 48"

Close up of the to scale drawing showing the overlaps
and joining required.

One of the advantages of tracing and retracing the lines of Night Vision, is that I get to study it slowly and conscientiously and even subconscientiously as my mind drifts during the repetitive process. The more I worked with the lines, the more ideas of what I could do to build on the foundation occurred to me. I even have a few experimental ideas to play with. I can't wait. This is the time when I am most in love with my work, when it is full of possibilities and promise and I haven't started to tear my hair out coping with the consequences of my genius. :)  

The scaled drawing is then traced to muslin
and a reverse copy is traced to freezer paper.
The freezer paper image will be used to
create templates for the piecing.

This week was about laying the foundation for a new work and building on the skills of foundations laid down weeks and even years ago. It was a week full of creative energy!

 1) Wild Apple 12" x 12" Opportunity - (Due August 15) - Done!

a) Mat and frame the work.

Now it is time to select the fabric
for the leaves. Yummy! 

2) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Finish the line drawing - Done!
b) Print out the line drawing to scale!
c) Bonus - marked the line drawing on muslin and in reverse on freezer paper!
d) Start the piecing - Not yet.

The fabric is a preprinted panel
designed by Leah Day, available
through Spoonflower. It makes
for a great practice sandwich.
I tested out my Flower Power
FMQ motif in the pink tresses.

3) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

A close up of Flower Power

There are signs that our flower gardens are beginning to fade. So, it is no surprise that I found myself desperate to cling to flowers, hence the Flower Power FMQ design I devised this week. It begins with a simple six petal daisy that I echoed three times before stippling around the flower to allow it stand out and then starting the next flower.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done!

This week's mixed media lesson
taught how to add traced images
to a background. The drawings are NOT
my original design, but the placement
of the drawings and background
are all mine.

Often our final lesson of the month is earmarked as a bonus lesson and therefore assumed to take less time than one of the "main" lessons. In fact it may just be to watch a video interview with one of the artists. Not so this week. Our teacher had a technical glitch creating the second video for the lesson, so that the work demonstrated in video part one didn't match up with the work that was finished and completed in video part two. Life happens. Once I got over my personal confusion I looked at this as a learning opportunity. It was up to me to make the bridge from one video to another. I doubt I would have had the confidence to do this with mixed media back in January, but was delightfully surprised to discover that I can now problem solve my way through a mixed media work on my own.

My hope is to build on this confidence and momentum next week. I think I can. I think can. I know I can, to build on The Little Engine that Could. This is my plan for next week.

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Start the piecing

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.


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