Week in Review 2016 - 04/29

Isn't this fun? I discovered
a collection of apps that
create all kinds of surreal
effects. 

I just have the bottom
6" and top 3" of Sunrise
Abstraction left to quilt.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Serene - that is precisely how I felt yesterday while quilting Sunrise Abstraction. How I wish I could wave a magic wand and tap into serenity at will. It is so easy to get caught up in the demands of daily life. The to do list is invariably longer than the done list. It feels like such a luxury to sit down and spend hours free motion quilting. What made yesterday different? It may have been because the motif is second nature for me to quilt. It certainly helped that I had zero thread issues. It didn't hurt that this was the second week of no traveling. It always takes me a while to get back in the groove. When I do - serenity...

I wasn't so mellow that I got nothing accomplished. Here is how the week went:

Close-up of the free motion quilting done this week
on Sunrise Abstraction. This is what had me
feeling so serene.

1)  Finish Reflection #2  - Create and attach the label either when needed or when I have a second label to print at the same time. - I printed the label, finally!

2) Work on Sunrise Abstraction - Done!

I managed to quilt around 60% of the quilt in just two studio days. I have approximately one more studio day to go and the quilting will be done.

3) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

Remember last week's
daffodil images. Here
is the same photo, but this
time manipulated through
Drawing Pad.

My work on Sunrise Abstraction is doing double duty here.

4) Do some surface design work - Done!


Lesson 3 of Art on the iPad had me exploring several more apps. This week the apps focused on drawing. 

5) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open - Done!

I never did learn how to do cartwheels or headstands as a child. I'm not sure why these were so difficult for me. I do hate the blood rush when I am upside down. This past Tuesday there was only me and one other student in Yoga. She is 36 to my one week from turning 63. She wanted to work on headstands using the wall for support. I just wanted to cry or least do my own thing when the teacher went with this suggestion. Instead I tried. I didn't manage a full headstand but I did, very briefly, get two feet on the wall above my waist with my head resting between my forearms on my mat. 

Another drawing app experiment. This was super
easy and fun to do.

I'm looking forward to next week. I love all aspects of quilting. Still there is something exciting about squaring up a quilt. This is when the piece truly comes alive for me. I should be at that point with Sunrise Abstraction next week. So, that is one thing I'll be working on. Here is the rest of the plan:


1)  Finish Reflection #2  - Attach the label 

2) Work on Sunrise Abstraction

3) Free motion quilting practice

4) Do some surface design work


5) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open



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 2016 - 04/22

Spring finally came to
Appleton, WI, my home
town. Maybe that is why
I've been a tad distracted.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques

I've returned to working on Sunrise
Abstraction. 

So many apps, so little time. The second week of Art on the iPad has me making art, or at least starting with a photo and manipulating it through various apps to transform it. I feel like one of my grandsons (ages 5, 7 and 8) let loose in a children's museum. They are at an age when they dash from station to station, pressing buttons, twirling handles, competing with themselves and each other to see who can get their whirligig made from a cone shaped paper cup to fly the highest in an air current. I'm dashing from app to app with that same gleeful "what does this button do?" attitude. Focus, what is that? I'm too busy having fun. 

I came up with and
tested a free motion quilting motif
to use in the water section of
Sunrise Abstraction.

I didn't spend 100% of my week playing with apps, as you can see:

When I look at the lake in front of our home, if there
is any wind, it is broken up by choppy water. It makes
sense to use echoing undulating lines with densely
filled "pods". It nicely replicates wakes and eddies.

1)  Finish Reflection #2  - Create and attach the label either when needed or when I have a second label to print at the same time. - I didn't get to this, BUT I do have a second label to print so I'm betting this will be off my list next week.


2) Work on Sunrise Abstraction - Done!

3) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

4) Do some surface design work - Done! 


That is what all that app play was about. I'm counting it as surface design work, since the ultimate goal is to create fabric and/or blueprints for future work.

Recognize the daffodil from up above?
This is the same photo after it has
been run through the chalk scribble
feature in Imaengine, one of the
apps I've been playing with this week.

5) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open - Done!

One of the apps that was recommended in class just wasn't impressing me as something I could use to create fabric. Sure it was fun to go from photo of an image to a watercolor like painting of it, but so what. I tried to keep an open mind. Finally, one of the other students used it to create a background splashed/wash type effect. Now that is more my style. I see another app in my future. :) Good thing I stayed open.

I'm sure there will be more app play next week. I hope to pry myself away sufficiently to attend to the other items on my list, as well. 

1)  Finish Reflection #2  - Create and attach the label either when needed or when I have a second label to print at the same time.

2) Work on Sunrise Abstraction

3) Free motion quilting practice

4) Do some surface design work


5) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open


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 2016 - 04/15

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Get comfortable! Those two words could be my mantra. I was definitely thinking comfort as I selected my outfit this morning. Having achieved so many of the right of passage milestones, with Medicare just two years in my future, I have zero qualms about donning elastic waist pants, shoes that don't pinch or give me vertigo, and layers of sweaters, sweatshirts and down vests for warmth. I still make an effort to choose items that are color coordinated. I even sneak in bright colors, especially on gloomy days. However, my primary mission is comfort. When I am comfortable, I can face the day's challenges.

If you haven't played with the Photo Booth
app on your iPhone or iPad you may want
to give it a whirl. It allows you to take
a photo (in my case a selfie) in a variety
of modes. This one is Thermal Camera. 

It is the same way I approach working on my art. There are many ways I get comfortable in my studio. It is one of the reasons I practice free motion quilting. Even before I sit down to free motion quilt, I will first doodle the design on paper. Why? Because that invariably teaches me how to navigate through the tricky transitions and direction changes so that I when I stitch the design I don't hesitate. 

My studio is set up for comfort, too. The chairs at my two sewing machines are set at just the right height. I have one of the cushy gel mats I can move around the room, so that if I am cutting, ironing or doing surface design work for a significant amount of standing time, I don't have an uncomfortable surface to stand on. 

For me, organization is key to staying comfortable. I tend to be hyper-organized. My threads are organized by type, color and value. The same goes for my paints and fabrics. I have all my Bernina's feet at the front of the cabinet drawer in line by number, so that I can easily access and exchange feet without ever getting up. 

Why get comfortable? It is simple. When I am comfortable I can focus on both the fun of creativity and inevitable problem solving. It is easier to tackle the "big" issues when the buzzing mosquito of discomfort isn't distracting me.

This is my first week back after traveling and most of it was spent catching up with everything non-studio related. I did manage to spend a little time in the studio. I also began taking Art on the iPad on Monday. A little work here and there means I have a few things to share:

1)  Finish Reflection #2  - Create and attach the label either when needed or when I have a second label to print at the same time. - Still on hold.


2) Work on Sunrise Abstraction - Done!

Feeling Groovy is an original free motion
quilting motif that I developed during a
doodling session.

I don't have pictorial proof, but I did begin machine quilting Sunrise Abstraction. I did an area that I felt couldn't be done via continuous line stitching to achieve the look I was after. This means I have approximately 40 sets of threads to bury. I actually don't mind doing this. However, work with long dangling threads distracts from the actual quilting. I'll share what I did this week, next week after the threads are buried in the quilt.

3) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

I had fun spending an hour or so doodling. Nothing I tried looked right. Then I stumbled on this particular design, which is an amalgam on several of Tracy's (Whirls 'n Swirls) patterns with a frilly addition of my own. I've named the design, Feeling Groovy. I'm not sure when I would use it, but it does fill a space nicely.

A quick scribble done with my finger
on the iPad using the app Crayon. My
goal was simply to learn how the app
functioned, including how to save an
image for future use and sharing.

4) Do some surface design work - Done!


I am counting my work in Art on the iPad as my surface design work. Step one has been learning how to make my way around the iPad and online class interface. I did download one free app called Crayon. My scribble isn't much to look at now. I understand from more advanced students, that scribbles like mine are perfect for running through multiple apps and coming up with some surprising and stunning fabrics. 

5) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open. - Done!

In fact this is what lead to my focus on comfort. It is so easy to shut down when facing having to potentially disappoint or reprimand someone. It can be so much easier to let things slide than to speak up. Sometimes it is necessary to be uncomfortable first in order to get to a point of comfort.

Now that I have nearly caught up from my travels I am looking forward to learning a few more art apps and studio work next week. One way to be sure I am comfortable with the work ahead, is to know what my plans are. Now you do too. :)

1)  Finish Reflection #2  - Create and attach the label either when needed or when I have a second label to print at the same time.


2) Work on Sunrise Abstraction

3) Free motion quilting practice

4) Do some surface design work


5) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open


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.