Week in Review 2016 - 02/26

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Two "Spike" triangles sewn
together to form a rectangle. The
spike is 30 degrees.

Early this week I had one of those all too rare lightbulb points. I made a discovery about how to consistently and accurately piece fabrics that had been cut at the same "tricky" angle. If you are a precision piecer you will understand that matching seams of two fabrics that butt up against each other is simple when the fabrics are to be parallel to each other and of the same length. An example of an easy seam is when two same sized squares are sewn together. A tricky seam match occurs when a 30 degree angle must align with a 60 degree angle to make a 90 degree and the two pieces must result in a rectangle. Doreen Speckmann  wrote a whole book on the topic called Peaky and Spike. There are several rulers on the market designed to make the cutting and seaming of just these two angles simple. So, you can imagine my delight at discovering not only could I consistently sew 30/60 seams together, I could sew any angle combination that added up to 90 degrees with no pinning and no special ruler. Pictures are essential, perhaps even a video to share my discovery. Hopefully, I will have time to put together a sharing/tutorial on the topic soon.

I have been intuitively piecing the water portion of
Sunrise Abstraction. I wanted to create the feel of
windswept water with all the whitecaps and eddies.

This leads me to the current book on my iPod, Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World by Adam Grant. What grabbed my attention is the premise that being OPEN to doing something in a way that it hasn't been done before is what makes something original and creative. 

I worked on my usual array of projects this week as you will see:

Free motion quilting play with
a woodgrain pattern from the latest
Whirls 'n Swirls video.

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!

This is where I had the eureka moment. Do take a minute to study the angles I created when piecing the next segment of Sunrise Abstraction.

3) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

Once again I turned to Tracy at Whirls 'n Swirls for inspiration. She has just started filming and sharing her latest free motion designs. I've always been partial to the look of woodgrain as a stitching design and I even had the perfect variegated gold through warm brown thread to try it out.


4) Do some surface design work - Done!

Surface design experiment
using a mini hexagon gel plate.

This week I decided to use my mini hexagon gel plate. I really love how I could create a honeycomb pattern with it. I explored masking on the yellow, blue and green fabric. Before I began printing/stamping I cut up a freezer paper scrap in random curls and ironed it to the fabric. I discovered some strips held better than others. I just went with the serendipity of it. When ever a piece curled, I removed it. I knew I didn't want to leave the pure white spaces left behind, so I stamped them with the stamp I used to create texture on the gel plate. 

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

Another surface design experiment using the mini
hexagon gel plate after first masking off
sections of the fabric. This piece has whole cloth
quilt possibilities, I think. 

There are different ways to shut down. I learned this week that it can be as simple as assuming just because I have always done something one way, it needs to be done that way. Good thing I was open to testing my theory on piecing angles when that spark of an idea came. :)

I am looking forward to a more of the same next week, which is why the game plan looks exactly the same as this week.

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 - 2/19

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

EQ 7 design that will guide me
through the piecing of
Sunrise Abstraction.

There are times when I find myself coasting. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. I can only push myself hard for so long. Coasting doesn't mean coming to a grinding halt. Instead, for me it is a time to do work I am comfortable with that doesn't present major challenges. Even writing this post - I am opting to make it short and to the point.

I do have work to share. All the work was enjoyable. None felt pressured. A good week really. My coasting resulted in the following:

1)  Finish Deep Waters  - (Due March 15)

a) Finish attaching the sleeve; - Done

b) Create and attach the label;  I have opted to table this until the label is absolutely needed since I prefer to print two labels at once when I can.

c) Add it to my website. - Done! 

If you follow the link to my website you may note that I have renamed this piece. It is officially Reflection #2.

The piecing of Sunrise Abstraction has begun.

2) Work on Sunrise Abstraction - Done!

Mini stippling surrounds Hari Walner's
Teddy Bear FMQ motif.

I had the sunrise section  cut and set to piece but didn't like some of the hand dyed fabrics I had chosen. The value was right - but the hue felt off. It is for times like this I am grateful that I love learning new skills. I simply pulled out the orange and yellow dye and created a six fabric range of pale orange to a paler still golden orange. Much better. You will have to trust me, since I neglected to take pictures of the less satisfactory fabric choices.

3) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

I doodled for a bit, but eventually decided what I really wanted to do was whip out one of my Hari Walner designs purchased nearly 20 years ago. Isn't that teddy bear beyond precious?

4 Do some surface design work - Done!

Playing with mini gel plates.

I treated myself to some Mini Gel Printing Plates that I was eager to experiment with. What I love about the mini plates is that they adhere to an acrylic stamp plate. This way I can use them as stamps. It gives me more control of what I am printing where and I can print on as large a piece of fabric as I can layout and reach. Years ago I picked up some stunning wooden Batik stamps with leaf designs. I used several of these to create the patterns on the gel plate after the ink was applied. It was far more time consuming of a process than I expected, even after I developed rhythm. I printed on white PFD Kona Cotton. The effect was too stark. So, when I was dyeing the orange fabric for Sunrise Abstraction I tossed my printed fabric in the dye bath with a nothing ventured, nothing gained attitude. I much prefer the over-dyed look.

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

Not everything I choose to pursue in my studio results in something that delights me. In fact it seems those moments are rare. It might be easier to stop making art. Why put myself through so much angst and second guessing? Doing the work - good, bad and ugly - is essential to grow. I have to give myself regular pep talks to stay open to the fact that growth in art is not linear for me. My progress is more like a series of mountain ranges with peaks and valleys. The difference now versus 30 years ago is that the mountains are much more substantial and the plunge, because of those brief moments at the top, feels deeper than before. 
I will continue to make art, because for all the angst, it is as essential to my life as breathing. Here is the plan for making art next week:

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 - 02/12

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

The final assignment for Elizabeth Barton's dyeing class
was to select a photo, isolate some colors from it and
then dye fabric to match the selected colors. I chose this
photograph, taken by my husband, of a sunrise over
Lake Winnebago.

This week I have felt like student who has been gifted with multiple snow days in a row. I had thought I would be spending my days waiting around the courthouse with a 100 or so of my fellow citizens wondering if I would be asked to sit on a jury or not. Every time I've been assigned jury duty that is how it goes. Not this time. I called the night before, as instructed, and learned that I wouldn't need to come in the following day. Checked again the following night and lo and behold I wasn't needed at all! This meant the week was my own again. I haven't felt so gifted with unexpected free time since my daughter and husband went away for a school camping trip and my son was invited to spend the weekend with a friend. That was in 2000. How did I use my time in 2000? 100% in my studio except for when I was eating or sleeping. I began and nearly finished a quilt that I dubbed All About Time. It was sheer bliss.

These are the colors I selected from the photo.

Here is the same grid, but with the
colors that I dyed. Elizabeth kindly
told me that it is most important to
achieve a palette that works well
together vs. matching the colors
exactly. Close enough.

I didn't spend 100% of my week in the studio this time. I have too many other obligations to do that. However, knowing that I would have jury duty I had worked ahead or cleared up many obligations. How did I spend this bonus time? Pretty much like any other week but with a deeper appreciation because it was unexpected. Here's what I managed to accomplish:

I had fun using my newly acquired EQ 7 skills to good
use to design Sunrise Obsession. This is an EQ 7
rendering and NOT a pieced quilt or even my fabrics.
I have started a quilt based on the diagram using my
hand dyed fabric from the class. 

1)  Finish Deep Waters  by hand stitching the facing and adding a sleeve - (Due March 15) - Nearly done.

I have finished hand stitching the facing and begun to attach the sleeve.
2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

Isn't this a lovely floral motif. It is so simple once you
understand the concept of how the petals are formed.
The design is Faye's Flowers by Lori Kennedy.

It's been a while since I have treated myself to doing an Inbox Jaunt motif. Lori Kennedy tends to create images that can be repeated in borders or used in open spaces in a block. I love the look of her work, but have little practical use for it in my quilts. I just couldn't resist Faye's Flowers though. It was remarkably simple and fun to stitch out. 
3) Do some surface design work - Done!

After several very, very intense weeks of dyeing yards and yards of fabric for my class with Elizabeth Barton, I was expecting the final class to be more, if not twice as much of the same. Instead, I only needed to dye eight different fabrics and I was done.

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

My favorite part of my twice weekly yoga class is shavasana. It took me many tries to reach the deep relaxation I achieve, but now I am there within seconds of getting into the pose. This week it was suggested that we try reclining with a block behind our spine and another behind our head to achieve a chest opener or expansion. My first thought was absolutely not. Then I realized I had shut down before even giving it a chance. So, I tried the modification. No, adding blocks to my shavasana is not going to become part of my yoga practice, but at least now I am making an informed, open decision.

I am anticipating carrying forward the feeling of abundant time I achieved this week into next week. Here is how I plan on spending that time:

1)  Finish Deep Waters  - (Due March 15)

a) Finish attaching the sleeve;
b) Create and attach the label; and
c) Add it to my website.
2) Work on Sunrise Obsession

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 - 02/05

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Eight different ratios of
fuchsia and black (top 4) and
basic blue and black (lower 4)
were used to achieve this color run.

Kaboom! Some days I wake up and realize that I am facing a day of competing demands that feel like a series of Herculean tasks. How will I ever make it through? This can be especially difficult because it is easy for me to drift into "research" that branches from one investigation to another until I realize not only haven't I solved the problem I was researching, I have lost track of time and am barely aware of what I was trying to work out in the first place. So was the case this morning when I thought that I would just take a peek at the final lesson of my Basic Dyeing for Quiltmakers class. Big mistake. I was down the rabbit hole trying to figure out how to analyze the percentage of cyan, magenta, yellow and black (doable in Photoshop and recommended by Elizabeth Barton, our teacher) but NOT doable in Photoshop Elements that only analyzes color with a percentage of red, green and blue. I won't bore you with just how far afield I went with this. I did discover a really cool way to select a palette of any number of colors from 1 - 256 from a photograph - just not how to break down those colors into their turquoise, sun yellow, fuchsia and black blends. Poor Elizabeth. I must be a thorn in her side, seems I am always the one raising my hand in our virtual classroom for clarifications, fixes and workarounds. I've already fired off my first question of the day.

Complementary colors (opposite colors on a color
wheel) were used to dye this run.

The good news, as you can see from all the pictures, is that I managed to finish last week's lesson. There were many assignments, including dyeing neutrals, shades, over-dyeing and even painting with dye. It was a very full week as you can see by my list of accomplishments:


1) Work on Deep Waters - (Due March 15) - Done!

Deep Waters after cropping with the facing pinned to the
backside. You can see the pins from the front, too.

What a disaster, but with a reasonably happy ending, this piece has proven to be. The white caps I added to the water virtually destroyed the piece. I did my best to stay OPEN (word for the year) to various solutions. I tried picking the stitches out. The stitch work was too intense and the stitches too tiny to do this even in good light with strong magnification. I tried appliquéing over the stitch work. Then stitching over the appliqués. Better, but my whole cloth piece looked patched. Finally, I just cut the bottom 2/3 or the quilt off. Not bad.

Fun with free motion quilting.
There is something so compelling in
a curved line quilting motif.

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

It has been a while since I just sat down at the machine and doodled a free motion quilting design for fun and frankly, stress relief. This design is one from the second year of Whirls 'n Swirls motifs. I've called it Feathered Pods.

3 Do some surface design work - Done!

I managed to dye my way through 5 yards of 60" wide fabric in a single week.

I opted to over dye turquoise. The
original color of the cloth runs
across the top. That same color was
over dyed with black, basic blue,
fuchsia, orange and yellow.

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

I was extremely upset by the disaster I was making of Deep Waters. It took great courage and conviction, but I managed to stay open to the idea that it was salvable. 
I am going to have to stay open to a week where my schedule is unpredictable. I have jury duty starting on Monday. In Wisconsin, where I live, this means calling in daily for a week to determine whether I need to head to the courthouse the following morning. If I manage to have any days at home, here is what I plan to do:

One of the fabrics I hand painted with
dye. This assignment was to use
the dye solution as is versus
thickening it. This is a bit like
painting with colored water - only
broad brush techniques are easy to achieve.

1)  Finish Deep Waters  by hand stitching the facing and adding a sleeve - (Due March 15)

The good news is that I can do this at the courthouse or at home!

2) Free motion quilting practice.



3 Do some surface design work


4) 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.