Friday, February 24, 2017

Week in Review 2017 - 02/24



Every year the flock of turkeys seems
to grow exponentially
Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I looked up from my working in my studio to see the turkeys grazing. What you can't see in this picture are the two standing right up outside the window, peering in at me. By the time I had switched my iPod from listening to camera mode and made my way to the window they had started meandering down the lawn. 

Am I meandering? It sure feels like it. It seems I have spent February pursuing one idea, then abandoning that in favor of another, only to be moving on to a third concept. A positive from my inability to settle on a design is I continue to build up my technique skills. I may have swapped butterflies for bees and a treasure chest for a bee hive, but at least I have an idea of the appliqué method I will use to create the bees, based on playing with techniques to create butterflies. I may long for a direct journey from point A, idea of what to make next, to point B, the finished artwork, but the reality is the shortest route is rarely the one taken when making art.
Testing out the layout for the honeycomb
background for Picking Up the Pieces #3

I did manage some studio time, enough time to accomplish the following:

1) Work on the design for Picking Up the Pieces #2 and/or #3 - Done

I have let go, at least for now, my earlier ideas, when it occurred to me the message I want to convey with my piece needed to be less gentle and innocuous, and more lethal. Once I had settled on the bee with its stinger, I knew I had to make a honeycomb background. 

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 - Not yet

Isn't this glorious? I continued to work
on the sample I started last week. I love
the Arts and Crafts, William Morris feel of it.
3) Pot(s) made this week - Done

I was so, so tempted not to create a honeycomb background because piecing hexagons is not easy. In the past I have used the English Paper Piecing method. I actually enjoy this, but it takes time, since it is all done by hand. Before I committed to this project I wanted to see if I could piece hexagons by machine. The issue is all those inset seams. I did find several tutorials on line, basically sharing the same method. I tested this method out on a sample. Hopefully, it will get easier with the larger pieces and practice.

4) Free motion quilting practice - Done

One thing I want to improve with my free motion quilting is my ability to vary the scale of my pebbles, those background circles you see surrounding the flowers, leaves and swirls. This sampler is giving me plenty of practice.

I will practice more pebbles next week, in between cutting out additional hexagons and then starting the process of piecing them together. Also on my radar are the following:

1) Work on the design for Picking Up the Pieces #2 and/or #3

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1

3) Pot(s) made this week

4) Free motion quilting practice


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.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Week in Review 2017 - 02/17



I did take time to dash out on the balcony
and capture this glorious sunrise.
Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I'm having difficulty focusing these days. It reminds me of being a young mother trying to have a professional conversation on the phone, while my toddler hanks at my pant leg with pleading eyes for attention, and a pot is boiling over on the stove. I do not excel at multi-tasking. 

The reality is there is no such thing as multi-tasking. Instead we may rapidly switch between focuses, appearing to be multi-tasking, but we are really do only one thing at a time. A good way to understand what is meant by this is to write out your full name. Next write out the numbers from 1 - 25. Finally alternate between writing out your name and the numbers, interspersing the numbers with the letters. So, for my first name it would look like this: G1w2y3n4e5d6. Even typing it is a nightmare.

The result of a week being pulled in numerous directions is I have very little completed work to show for it, as you can see:

Last week I shared a possible design
for Picking Up the Pieces #2. This week
an idea for Picking Up the Pieces #3 
wouldn't let me go. It will require many butterflies. 

1) Work on the design for Picking Up the Pieces #2 - No

Instead I moved directly into playing with designs for Picking Up the Pieces #3.

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 - No

Didn't do this either.

3) Pot(s) made this week - Done!

I attempted to make butterflies three different ways. One was so diabolically difficult with such poor results, I tossed it. I 
think for the purposes of this quilt, I will stick to fusible appliqué, backed with a stabilizer, and surrounded with black satin stitch. The stabilizer keeps the satin stitch from distorting the work and was very easy to remove without tearing stitches. 


4) Free motion quilting practice - Done

I wanted to see if I could recreate the combination of motifs I saw on Pinterest post without marking the top. I could. 👍
There will be lots of open space for free
motion quilting in both Picking Up the Pieces
#2 & #3
. Time to test out some ideas I've
found in Pinterest.

5)  Attach a sleeve to Siren's Song - Done

I finally took the time to just sit down and do it. 

Next week will probably be more of the same. I have several appointments and another active SAQA exhibitions week to attend to. When I can manage to make my way to the studio this could be the plan, or maybe not. I'm comfortable going with the flow for now.

1) Work on the design for Picking Up the Pieces #2 and/or #3

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1

3) Pot(s) made this week


4) Free motion quilting practice



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.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Week in Review 2017 - 02/10


We frequently see this fox walking
in front of our condo, or dashing across the
lake. This photo was taken by our neighbor
Lynn Riviere from her condo. This could
be the view from my studio. :)
Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Sometimes before you can make pots you have to start with the basics. I recall from my grade school days being taught the importance of working the clay before you began to sculpt with it. The goal, if I remember correctly, was to meld the clay into a unified blend with no air bubbles. The point being, before you can begin to create, even to experiment, there is prep work to be done. 

I focused one of my studio days on working out the basic structure of my design on EQ7. I'm still a relative newbie with the program, although I have made it a point to do a tutorial of 15 minutes to an hour most weeks for a while now. The design I wanted to play with pushed the limits of my knowledge. It is part of making pots, trying this, testing that, a step or two forward only finding I must start further back. 

Possible design for Picking Up
the Pieces 2
created with EQ7
With my other studio day I began the experimentation of the best way to piece the compass block. My instinct is to turn to paper piecing whenever I need precision piecing of this complexity. Where I have gotten stuck in the past, though, is combining paper piecing with curves. I decided to give it a whirl anyway. Much to my surprise, since the seam lines are straight, the piecing worked well. Even more exciting, I was easily able to turn under the outside and inside curves with an iron. This meant I didn't need to use glue or starch. No glue or starch means those products don't have to be washed out after the work is quilted. 

My studio time was truncated this week by other obligations. This can be an advantage. It kept me focused. Here is what I managed to do:


1) Finishing Where Have All the Flowers Gone? - Done!


2) Design Picking Up the Pieces #2 - Started

The design may change. The one shown is my favorite from multiple false starts. I'm going to play a bit more with color placement. I do want lots of open space. Where you see white, will be more of the background (sky blue fabric). I want to make my quilting a strong part of the design, and lots of open background is a good way to showcase it.

I used my yellow scraps to test the advocacy
of paper piecing an arch. The arch is machine
appliquéd with a blind hem stitch. This method
was comfortable to do. I'm pleased with it
technically, too.
3) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 - Not yet.

4) Pot(s) made this week - Done!

I made many pots on EQ7 as I worked out how to translate my design concept onto the screen. Most of the attempts were deleted. Sometimes it is just easier to start over, rather than fix problems. This is precisely why I like using EQ 7. I can make many more pots designing on the computer, than working with fabric.

5) Free motion quilting practice - Didn't get to it.

6)  Attach a sleeve to Siren's Song - Started

Next week I plan on trying another method or two of creating the arches for Picking Up the Pieces - 2. I also want to spend more time on EQ7 playing with my design before I commit to actually making it. It is good to have plan, while staying flexible. Here's mine for next week:

1) Work on the design for Picking Up the Pieces #2

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1

3) Pot(s) made this week

4) Free motion quilting practice

5)  Attach a sleeve to Siren's Song

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.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Week in Review 2017 - 02/03



View from my studio.
January 31, 2017 at 9:00 am
Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

When the weather outside is frigid (yes we are back to single digit nights here in Appleton, Wisconsin) witnessing the sun, albeit hidden by a cloud, from my studio warms my heart. Life may be busy. Life may seem crazy. In my studio, I am warm, engaged and able to stitch one piece to another. 

The plan for this week was simply to play with my scraps. Actually, I need a more concrete plan than that, otherwise I would simply stare at the fabric. This is why I maintain a notebook of ideas for experiments to try the next time I feel so inclined. I'm not sure where I stumbled upon Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic Quilt Blocks, but the tutorial was in my notebook. 

Picking Up the Pieces - 1
What attracted me to Mod Mosaic Quilt Blocks was how the thin strip of a unifying fabric pulled together a cohesive look. An advantage for me is a 17" square quilt works up very quickly. My normal speed is tortoise. I have accepted this about myself, most of the time. Still, I am secretly envious of other fiber artists who speak of making up a quilt from idea to completion in a couple of weeks. So, when I stumble upon a way to work faster without compromising quality, I am going to give it a try.

I actually began Picking Up the Pieces on Monday and had it quilted by Thursday. This was not my sole focus. My job as Chair of SAQA's Exhibition Committee kept me busy for a half day each on Monday and Tuesday with a few more hours on Wednesday. It is always busy during the final days of a call for entry as a team of us help entrants with their questions and concerns. Once all the entries are in they must be vetted for eligibility and some prepped for blind jurying. It is worth the effort, but definitely cuts into my studio time, although this may not be obvious by looking at what I got done.

1) Finishing Where Have All the Flowers Gone? - Started

Detail from Picking Up the Pieces
Click on this or any other image in the post
to see an enlarged view. 
I made the sleeve and started attaching it. 

2) Pot(s) made this week - Done!

I have been pinning quilting designs which speak to me on Pinterest. Many of these involve ruler work. Some are made up of a combination patterns. I am drawn to designs with clear changes in texture. I used Picking Up the Pieces as a way to make pots with free motion quilting. 

What I seem to need to learn over and over again, is don't bother to do any intricate free motion quilting on fabrics with patterns. It just doesn't show up. It is worth it to go to town on solids or fabrics reading as solid. Sometimes a patterned fabric comes to life if you choose the right free motion quilt design. 

3) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

Detail from Picking Up the Pieces
Enhancing the rose petals (lower right) was
a bust. However micro stippling around brown
spots brought them to 3D life as pebbles.
See above.

4)  Attach a sleeve to Siren's Song Not Yet

When I began making Picking Up the Pieces I thought I would make a series of blocks in varying hues. What I learned by making it, was for me, once was enough. However, it has me thinking about a new direction to explore, one where I can showcase some of the quilting designs that are calling to me. There is nothing better than finishing a week eager to start all over again. Next week's plans will likely include:

1) Finishing Where Have All the Flowers Gone? 

2) Design Picking Up the Pieces #2

3) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1

4) Pot(s) made this week

5) Free motion quilting practice

6)  Attach a sleeve to Siren's Song

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.