Week in Review 2019 - 03/22

Thank you for following my blog. I hope you will continue to follow it, now that it has moved from Blogger to WordPress. 

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You can find my Wordpress posts from now on at:

www.blog.gwynedtrefethen.com

Week in Review 2019 - 03/15

Thank you for following my blog. I hope you will continue to follow it, now that it has moved from Blogger to WordPress. In order to follow my WordPress blog, scan to the bottom of the current Wordpress post until you come to the comments section. Just below the comments you will see two options. The first allows you to be notified and view comments. The second will make you a follower of Gwyned Trefethen's Musing, by notifying you whenever I post something new. You can find my Wordpress posts from now on at:

www.blog.gwynedtrefethen.com

Week in Review 2019 - 03/08

Thank you for following my blog. I hope you will continue to follow it, now that it has moved from Blogger to WordPress. The inaugural post is today. You can find my posts from now on at:

www.blog.gwynedtrefethen.com

Week in Review 2019 - 02/22

Cohasset Sunrise
Note how dramatically the values
change around the perimeter of the piece.

One of the difficulties of regular blog postings is coming up with something new to say, or at least a new way to say the same thing. It helps that my blog is about my artwork, since most weeks I have made visible progress with my work. This week is no exception. However, how exciting is it to write about binding a quilt?

You may recall Cohasset Sunrise from several weeks back. I interrupted my finishing work on it, while I attended to various challenge deadlines I wanted to meet. Deadlines met, it was time to begin finishing Cohasset Sunrise. There are many ways to finish the outer rim of a quilt. Most fall into two general categories, binding and facing.  The difference between the two is that binding acts like a frame of the work it surrounds, whereas facing turns the raw edge to the back of the quilt, covering it in the facing. When to choose one over the other is a matter of aesthetics. In the case of Cohasset Sunrise, I have opted for binding.

If you look closely you can see how I change the binding
fabric dependent on its location on the quilt. Cohasset
Sunrise required 300" of bias binding. I used five
different fabrics to make the necessary binding.

Once the decision to bind the quilt is settled, the next step is to select the binding fabric. When I first started binding, I assumed incorrectly, that only one fabric for the full quilt should be used. This comes from having a traditional quilting background. In a traditional quilt it is typical for there to be rows of quilt blocks stitched together, surrounded by one or more borders, with the binding being attached to the final border. Therefore, the binding fabric should work next to the border, and perhaps be drawn from one of the fabrics used in the blocks to tie the quilt together visually. Art quilts, are rarely so predictable. A binding fabric that works well in one part of the quilt may be distracting in another. It has become my habit, when binding an art quilt makes the most sense, to change the binding as frequently as needed, so it is never distracting, but blends with its adjacent fabrics. This is what I have done with Cohasset Sunrise.

Although it isn't necessary, this
bias binding tool makes
placing the bias binding folds
so easy.

My favorite method of making my own binding is to use the continuous bias strip method. The trick for me is figuring out how much binding I will need, and how much fabric is required based on my need. This is relatively easy to do when you have a length of fabric, since the equation is readily available.  But what if I have lots of odd rectangles, say a 9" x 15" piece of one fabric and a 12" x 19" of another. How do I calculate how much binding I can get from each. I couldn't find a formula on the internet for that equation and was struggling to come up with one on my own. My husband to the rescue. Here is the equation should you ever be in the same bind (pun intended).

L (length of fabric) divided by WB (width of binding strip) round down to nearest whole integer x W (width of fabric) = LB (length of binding).

If you have a 9" x 15" piece of fabric and your binding strip is 2" wide you plug into the formula this way:

9/2 = 4.5
4 x 15 = 60

Therefore, you get 60" of binding from a 9" x 15" piece of fabric.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Week in Review 2019 - 02/15

Detail from Finding True North
Clicking on the image should provide
an enlarged image.

The images in this post may look very similar to the images in last week's post. There are some subtle differences. As promised, I further defined the geese (yellow triangles) to enhance the contrast between them and the background. I did this by outlining them in a deep yellow variegated thread using my machine's zig zag stitch with the width and height set to produce a satin stitch. This lead to adding satin stitch around the rays of the sun and a few of the sun's arcs. The sky has been quilted using a cloud like free motion quilting pattern I came up with intuitively as I stitched. It is repetitive, but there is variety within in the clouds. Just one of the reasons why I like free motion quilting, versus using pantographs for all over quilting.

Finding True North
24" H x 18" W

Repetition is a design principle I often use intentionally. Another intentional choice is the rule of odd numbers. When I am planning how many rays of the sun to include or the number of geese skeins I will opt for an odd number. Therefore, there are three rays and three skeins. There could have been five, but that would have been too busy. Four skeins of geese wouldn't have given the central focus where the skeins meet the middle sun ray.

This is a shout out to my brother, who follows my blog.  Nick pointed out I had used the wrong word to describe the trails of geese last week. I was thinking of contrails. However, when writing this piece I opted to see if there was a word for what I was trying to say. Turns out there are three: team, trail, and skein. I love the idea of a skein of geese, as I am also a knitter, so skein of geese it is. Thanks, Nick.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Week in Review 2019 - 02/08

Finding True North
24"H x 18" W
January/February 2019 Art Quilt Challenge

The adage life is short, eat dessert first, resonates for me when it comes to making artwork. Spending time in my studio is my dessert. When it comes to dessert, chocolate rules and canned fruit cocktail, just doesn't cut it.

With 30 years of making artwork I have learned what I enjoy making and what just isn't worth it. Perfection, for example, is never my aim. I do enjoy refining and hopefully, improving and/or learning from each piece I make.

The basic piecing of the geese entrails and quarter sun of Finding True North, was relatively easy since these could be paper pieced. What wasn't easy, and what I have zero patience for, was working out how to piece the entrails into the background. So, I didn't. Instead I turned under the seam allowance and attached them to the background with a blind hem stitch. No hair tearing or perfection required.

Finding True North - detail

FindingTrue North isn't done yet. I'm looking forward to the next phase, free motion quilting. I'm also contemplating helping the geese pop just a bit more. That will have to wait until next week.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2019 - 02/01

Page 20 from the January 2019
issue of Audubon

Finding True North
Roughed out design using EQ8
Actual coloring will be different
and the central sun ray will be
visible in its entirety. 

I was very fortunate to have an amazing creative writing teacher when I was in 9th grade. Each week Miss Dwyer would give the class a prompt to jump start our next assignment. We had a few days to write a page or two. Every student took turns reading their work out loud to the class. To this day, 51 years later, I recall one of the pieces I wrote, several of the tips shared, and bits from pieces my classmates wrote. It is only recently I have come to realize what a precious gift this class was, and how it help give me the courage to share my art work.

Paper piecing of the geese entrails in progress

Detail of the geese entrails, show just a few more to go.

I have recently joined Art Quilter's Bi-monthly Challenge, hosted by Carol McDowell. It is very much like my 9th grade class, only instead of writing, the assignment is to make an art quilt based on a prompt. The January/February prompt is to make a quilt inspired by pg. 20 from a magazine - any magazine, so long as it isn't about quilts. Since I don't subscribe to magazines, I turned to my library's online collection. Right near the top of the screen, since the magazines are alphabetical order by title, was Audubon. Pay dirt! Page 20 was perfect.

I could have chosen any word, the sky, the geese, the color palette or even reflections. What I opted for was the title, Finding True North and the geese as my catalyst. The figurative definition of True north is what guides you in your life. When it comes to making art quilts, my true north, or what I return to time and time again, are traditional blocks pushed a bit beyond traditional. I also enjoy insider hints based on the block's name. No surprise my piece features several flying geese entrails. Gradating my work from light to dark, is something else I enjoy. Therefore, my geese go from brilliant yellow to the palest of cream yellows. Finally, I will be leaving plenty of open sky, so that when it comes time for free motion quilting, I can go town.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2019 - 01/25

What a difference 30 years makes! I began quilting in September 1985, so actually it has been 33 years. My first foray into quilting was to take a class based on Quilt in A Day: Log Cabin Pattern by Eleanor Burns. Everything was new to me, from how to select fabrics based on value to the importance of maintaining a 1/4" seam. I knew nothing about art quilting. I'm not even sure the term was in existence, although there were a few pioneers doing their own thing.

My Neighbor's Shed
Background
All fabrics come from my stash of hand painted fabrics

My 32 year old self would have been clueless about how to create this mini (4.5" x 6.5") art quilt. I don't think anyone was doing thread painting back in the mid '80's. I realized as I was contemplating what to write this week, how very grateful I am for all the time I have put in making work and filling my technique tool box. I now have the ability to breakdown a design and know immediately how best to execute it. There was a time when every new project had a learning curve, some much steeper than others.

Steps taken to create My Neighbor's Shed:

My Neighbor's Shed
Thread painting in progress. Two of the elements are done,
the third is outlined on Solvy and ready to be painted.

1) I selected a pleasing image of the shed across the street from our home.

2) I imported the image into EQ8 and traced the primary lines to create a blue print to follow.

3) I broke down the shed so it could be paper pieced.

4) I sized the original photograph so I could trace some of the trees and bushes for thread painting.

5) I pieced the shed and backed it with Heat 'N Bond so that it could be fused to the quilt.

My Neighbor's Shed
Nearly done

6) I created freezer paper templates for the background.

7) I ironed the templates to fabric, trimmed to an approximate 1/4" seam around the templates, then pieced the background.

8) In order to create the bushes and trees, I traced the shape and key color changes onto Solvy, a water soluble glue film.

9) I made a thread painting sandwich by layering to two pieces of tulle between the Solvy sheet with the tracing and a blank Solvy sheet. This provides stability for thread painting. If it is done directly on the quilt, there will be puckering and shrinkage. Instead the individual elements are thread painted off quilt, cut away, and rinsed in warm water to dissolve the Solvy.

My Neighbor's Shed
How it will look in the mat board frame.

10) Create a quilt sandwich of the background, batting and a background, and quilt it BEFORE the foreground is added. Why before? If one waits until after, then the quilting process is more complex. It is the difference between mowing a wide open lawn and one with boulders and trees.

11) Now it is time to arrange the shed and greenery to the quilt. The thread painted elements are attached with the addition of a little, emphasis on little, more thread painting.

12) This is my Spotlight Auction submission. The size is mandated at 4.5" x 6.5" viewing area, but must measure 6" x 8". The recommended finish for the edge is a zig zag stitch. Other than the paperwork and label, it is done!

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2019 - 1/18

Mid Tide
12" x 12"

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Isn't it great to finish a project? Much as I love delving into something new, I relish its bookend, completion. There is something very satisfying about setting out to do something and accomplishing it.

Mid Tide detail

My past year has been rather topsy-turvy, as we moved from our home of 8 years, in Appleton, Wisconsin, back to our home state, Massachusetts. We are living on the south shore, a region of Boston suburbs south of Boston and north of Cape Cod. It is an area we only occasionally drove through in the past. Everything is new to us. Moving to a new area of the country requires so much, from sleuthing out the best grocery store to finding a dentist. We have been busy moving in. The result is bigger gaps between times in the studio and shorter time spent in the studio during the days I manage to find time to work.

I am so grateful I chose to focus my year on making 12 12" x 12" artworks. It is manageable, comfortable, and I feel zero pressure. I've basically finished my first one. So, now I have 11 12" x 12"s to go.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2019 - 1/11

Quick reference photo for my first 12" x 12".
Our home overlooks this view.
I've been obsessed with the roof line of the shed
ever since we moved in. 

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I do choose something to focus on each year. In the past I've undertaking various weekly art exploration classes such as mixed media or how to draw. One year I committed to doing something new each week. Another year I made sure to extend an unexpected kindness. This year, I'm back to focusing on art. I have decided to make a different 12" x 12" fiber art piece each month.

Piecing planned designed on EQ 8

Current state of Mid Tide

Cohasset Sunrise is squared up ready for binding

I normally work on mid-size to large pieces. It is the scale I am most comfortable with. So, focusing on something small forces me out of my comfort zone. It also has the advantage of being the required size for two different SAQA projects I plan on contributing to. The first is Massachusetts/Rhode Island's regional trunk show. The trunk show will tour  libraries, guilds and other venues found for it. It is a great way to introduce people to the variety of work being produced by local art quilters. The second is SAQA's annual benefit auction. This is one of the ways SAQA fills the gap between membership dues and annual expenses.

Detail of the free motion quilting of waves
in the lower section of Cohasset Sunrise

I spent the last month of 2018 obsessively free motion quilting Cohasset Sunrise. It is squared up, 84" H x 59" W,  and ready to bound. It has been a long time since I have had the excuse to do some hand sewing. A question I have been asked from time to time, is what is my favorite phase of making a quilt. The truth is I enjoy all aspects. Hand sewing is one of those rare moments in life when one can sit back and let the mind wonder. There aren't enough times carved out for reflection in a day. No wonder slow stitching and knitting have been gaining in popularity. Such peaceful pursuits.

The weather may be turning colder, but I have the good fortune to be able to hunker down in my studio and create.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 11/30

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Gwyned's family after a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

 Thursday is my final push day in the studio most weeks. I find writing a blog to be shared on Fridays acts as an incentive. However, there are times when family must take precedence. Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. This was our first home hosted Thanksgiving with both our children, their spouses, and our five grandchildren. Our daughter did the honors at her home. If you are only counting four grandchildren, that is because the oldest preferred not to join us for the family photo shoot. He is in the background, upper left, under the blanket.

I began by quilt gently quilting the sun and intensely quilting
the bits of sky between the rays. This gives the sun a bit
more dimension and puts the sky into the background.

Detail of the quilting motif in the background/sky
of Cohasset Sunrise.

The week of Thanksgiving was spent sandwiching Cohasset Sunrise in preparation for quilting. I used to pin baste my quilts, as my go to method. Then I tried hand basting them with long zig zag stitches. This had the advantage of not catching the safety pins in the quilt roll while quilting. Still, it meant cutting thread regularly in order to avoid having the basting caught permanently under the quilting. I never tried, but was aware of various methods to fuse the front and back to the batting. These included sprays (best done outdoors and with a mask) and a fusible batting. Not for me. I've switched to fusing my quilt sandwich with a fusible web as my go to method. Betty Busby recommends Spunfab from Museum Services Corporation. Apparently this is what textile conservators turn to for repairs. It is described as "an acid free, low melting thermoplastic adhesive in a fine web form. It is a webbing prepared from plasticizer-free copolyamides especially formulated for textile bonding." I like the fact that I can buy it in 60" widths and 10 yard lengths. I find it doesn't change the hand of the quilt. I love that I don't need to stop to unclasp pins or cut threads. 


Now I can go to town on the sky beyond the sun. I find I prefer horizontal, looser quilting works best for skies. I can never resist busting out with a few irregularly placed puffy clouds.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 11/16

I take Vinyasa Flow with Mike Birmingham. Fortunately,
he doesn't make us do anything as complex as this. :) 

If you have been following my blog, you know I have attended several yoga classes a week for seven years now. Our move from Appleton, WI to Cohasset, MA, this past May meant finding a new place to practice yoga. Fortunately, there is a studio with a range of classes from Yin (holding poses for 5 - 7 minutes to allow gravity to stretch the body) to Bikram (taken in a room with the temperature jacked way up there) and many between the two extremes, just a mile from our home. In Appleton I took from one teacher. Here in Cohasset, I take classes with four different teachers. The theme this week in all my classes is gratitude. Each teacher introduces the concept in a different way. Nearly all have focused on "heart opener" poses and stretches. I am grateful to have the ability and opportunity to practice yoga with such an inspiring  group of teachers.   

Now that I think of it, piecing the
back to Cohasset Sunrise with
scraps left over from the front
could be my equivalent of an insane
yoga pose. It took years of practice
to be able to whip something like this out.

I'm also grateful to have reached the point with Cohasset Sunrise, where the back is pieced, the batting is pieced, and the quilt is sandwiched. I begin quilting it next week. Hurrah!

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 11/09

My third attempt at intuitively
piecing with fused appliqué.

It's been a busy week. I've divided my time between nose to the needle in my studio as I manically create the backside for Cohasset Sunrise and being 52Quilters featured quilter of the week.

Units 1, 2 and 3 are pieced. One more unit to go!

Close to a year ago I applied to a call to be considered to be a host of 52Quilters and was selected. The premise is every week a different quilter takes over the writing of the blog and posting on Instagram (@52quilters). This year it was decided that each month would have a theme. November's theme is being hosted by art quilters. I surmised that the audience for 52Quilters is made up of a majority of newer, young quilters who are versed in traditional and modern work, but with a dearth of knowledge in art quilts. This lead me to writing a series of seven posts on my own journey from traditional quilter to art quilter, those who have influenced me along the journey, and a brief discussion of a different element of art in each post. There are seven elements of art, conveniently. :) Being the over achiever that I am, I opted to follow a very different theme, sunrises, with my Instagram posts. Each day I have posted a sunrise photograph taken by my husband or me around our neighborhoods (Appleton, WI and now Cohasset, MA), along with one of the quilts I have made inspired by sunrises.

No surprise, currently under my needle is yet another sunrise themed quilt, this one titled Cohasset Sunrise. I had the brilliant, but VERY time consuming idea that I would use the scraps from the top to make the back. Much of it is pieced, but I have fused many odd shaped pieces to muslin and anchored them with a stitch designed for stretch fabric. I really like the way my third attempt at this came out. I was very tempted to turn it into a quilt top.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2019 - 11/02

EQ8 Blue Print

Times like this I question my sanity. Last week I had the ingenious idea of using the leftover scraps from my quilt top to make its back. I loved how this allowed me to be creative and more environmentally friendly. I'm in my element piecing. Clearly, this would be a win, win situation. Not this week. I began the work of laying out the many units I'd created from the scraps and calculating the filler fabric necessary to piece the units together.

Listing of pieced units,
section dimensions, and
and math worksheet.

I began by measuring all the units and listing them by like sizes. Next I went to EQ8, using the Custom Quilt layout, I added blocks matching the dimensions of my units. I had hoped the grid would print out so I could easily do the math to calculate the size of each filler block. Apparently, that hasn't been programmed into EQ8. I spent several hours working it all out the old fashioned way with pencil and paper.

Backside of
Cohasset Sunrise
partially pieced

Finally, the fun, OK with some angst, could begin again. I used my blue print to layout the units for section #1, add the filler fabric, and piece everything together. Not bad. Section #1 and #2 are pieced and sewn together. Next week will be Section #3.

A common comment I receive from non quilters is, "I'd never have the patience to make a quilt." Times like this, I wonder if I have the patience. Then I step back, see what I have accomplished, and think, "Yes, it was worth it."

When I wasn't in my studio working on Cohasset Sunrise, this week, I was putting the finishing touches on my posts for 52 Quilters. I have been asked to be the featured quilter from November 5 - 11. I will be posting on the blog daily and on Instagram several times a day. Most of the readership for 52 Quilters are traditional and modern quilters. Last year the featured quilters mirrored the readership. This year it was decided to invite art quilters to take on a week each for the month of November. Linda Bratten, one of the volunteers for 52 Quilters will introduce the month. After me will come Susan Miller Jones and Sue Bleiweiss.  Do stop by for month of art quilt immersion.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 10/26

Cohasset Sunrise

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

After a two month hiatus, when we moved out of and back into our home for a renovation to take place, I am finally back in my studio working. Whenever I am away for a long absence, I find the best way to get back in the practice of creating is to start simple.

When I stopped working I had just finished piecing the top for Cohasset Sunrise. Therefore, the logical next step was to prepare the backing, sandwich the quilt, and start the quilting.  With two months to let my mind wonder I had time to think about the backing and the part of my process that drives me crazy.

Strip pieced scraps

For years I have been storing strips of fabric, left over triangles, and other trimmings of a usable size. I have tried various ways of organizing these leftovers in hope that someday I would I find a use for them. Periodically, I simple clean house, tossing all my leftovers out, along with my good intentions. Not this time. I have decided to randomly piece all these scraps together into units and use them as part of the back of my quilt.

Crazy quilt pieced scraps

The precision cut pieces were easy to pull together. I found combining odd shapes more difficult. Crazy quilts to the rescue. I layered a piece of muslin with fusible web scraps and then topped that with overlapping leftover odd shapes. Once everything was fused, I used an embroidery stitch, slightly more elaborate than a zigzag, to secure the raw edges without building up a lot of thread.

 I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 08/31

Sunrise at Minot Beach, Scituate, Massachusetts 

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

One thing that sold us on our new home is its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. We are far enough and high enough up to be safe from rising waters and storms, but close enough to walk or bike to the beach. No surprise, ventures to the beach provide me with a fount of ideas. Sometimes it is the palette of a sunrise, other times lines in the sand, and the view is always tempting to interpret.

Lines created in the sand
during an ebbing tide

Yesterday I began work on my September MAP (monthly art project). My premise is to use something from my studio collection of tools and supplies I haven't picked up in more than a year. I interpret this quite liberally. This month I selected a piece of hand dyed, sun printed fabric I made more than 10, could be 15 years ago. Ugly is too gentle a word for it, that is until I turned it to the backside as I was pressing it. Now that side had possibilities. I decided to use it for a whole cloth quilt that has percolating ever since I spied the pattern of lines created by the ebbing tide at Minot Beach in Scituate, Massachusetts.

September's MAP in progress

 I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 08/24

I make art quilts. Why the modifier "art" and why not just say quilt? One reason is because of how far some art quilts have grown from most people's definition of a quilt. SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) defines an art quilt as  "a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure." A key word in this definition is "references". Note also, there is nothing in the definition which refers to fabric. 

This is my entry,
Sunrise Over Little Lake Butte des Morts - #2

My personal work hasn't strayed far from quilts of yesterday year, but I am a huge admirer of the work of others who have, including those who are making sculptural art quilts. I am a Juried Artist Member of SAQA, regularly renew my membership, and volunteer for the organization because I believe in its mission, "to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development, documentation, and publications." If you believe the art quilt deserves promotion and/or if you just can't get enough of seeing art quilts, I recommend you check out SAQA's annual benefit auction. There are 443 art quilts, all 12" x 12", up for auction starting on September 14th. 

 I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 08/17

Cohasset Sunrise
60" x 84"

Tips, Thoughts, and Techniques:

Transitioning is the current theme of my life. Summer is dwindling. The days are often blisteringly hot, while the leaves are showing signs of fall preparation. We are setting up our home for a 8 day visit with our granddaughters and daughter-in-law. When they leave we will have a few days to clear out our home in preparation for a renovation. This includes my studio. I will be on a six to eight week leave of absence from my machines. Hence the push to finish piecing Cohasset Sunrise.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 08/10

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I am an adequate cook. I can follow a recipe, although I am far more likely to make a modification or two or more to suit my personal preferences. What I have never quite gotten the hang of is making a meal. It is the timing a meal requires that eludes me. Fortunately, my husband enjoys cooking and he is comfortable with timing. However, I am the one who is the most fascinated of the two of us when it comes to watching shows about cooking.

Cohasset Sunrise
Only two more blocks to go...

This week I started watching Chef's Table, a series of shows available through Netflix. I began questioning why this grabbed me more than most. The answer, I believe, is because each episode  can be distilled into the featured chef discovering his/her passion, pursuing it through a roller coaster of successes and failures, and ending during a period of contentment. True they are all lauded for what they have achieved. However, it is clear it isn't success that motivates them, but instead it is riding the wave of the ah ha moment. Isn't that what making art is all about from the artist's perspective, the drive to explore and tweak, never satisfied, always searching, and with a clear focus? The lesson I find myself learning (actually one I must be refreshed on repeatedly) is not to worry what others think of your art. None of the chefs featured would be where they are today if they listened the opinions of others more than they listened to their own inner voice.

A series of cats - same pose,
different materials, patterns and sizes

So, I continue to work on Cohasset Sunrise. This is a piece made in a manner that I never grow tired of. Each new iteration of work made in the Shifting Value series engages me and teaches me. I finish eager to try again.

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. 

Week in Review 2018 - 08/03

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Decisions, decisions, decisions. In four weeks we will begin a significant renovation of our home. In preparation there are many decisions to be made. There are the basics of which walls to remove and which to add. Then there are the non-functional aesthetic decisions involving color and texture. Last week I shared how I had been brought up short by choosing a paint color for the living area. That decision has been made.

This will be the color of our accent wall
in the open living area.

We met with our contractor, yesterday. He asked us to select the carpets from a different  firm than he first recommended. So, off we went to pick out the carpets for the two bedrooms. I try to avoid rethinking decisions. However, there are times when revisiting a decision is a wise course of action. The original plan was for a green carpet in the guest room, but three months of living in our home and obsessing over the home's given palette, I started to think blue made more sense. What I wasn't expecting was to select a midnight blue.

What you can't see is the sparkle which
gives this series of carpets its name,
Starry Night. There are slim slivers of silver
interspersed in the deep blue pile.

What does this all have to do with my fiber art? Nothing and everything. Making art is all about decisions. Everything is a choice, this fabric or that? How should I construct it? Should there be a focal point? What should recede versus come forward? Will there be a light source? Should I use an all over quilting motif, vary it, and what should I use where? What is working? What isn't? The trick is to make the decisions, let each one inform the next, and have the confidence to make changes, even very radical changes to achieve the final artwork. I work both intuitively and with a flexible plan. The end result is rarely, as in almost never, what I thought it would be when I started out. That is both the excitement and terror. 

When I wasn't prepping for the renovation I made the next three blocks
for Cohasset Sunrise. This is one of those times where experience gives
me the confidence to move forward. 

I am linking up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.