Week in Review 2016 - 09/23

Siren's Song
The top is complete!! I was inspired
to add a few prairie points between
some of the seams. I felt it helped
make the transition between the
sunset image and the roiling wake
less abrupt. Also, it helps create the
spray/churning water that I hope
to convey.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

At what point do you start planning on how you will quilt your work? Right from the start? While you are creating the top? Once the top is done? My answer is D: All of the above. During the early stages I'm not so much planning as mulling over the possibilities. 

There are many ways I could quilt Siren's Song. Back when machine quilting was first getting a toe hold, the common method was to quilt in the ditch. This is when the quilting line follows the seam line. Next stippling with monofilament became all the rage. With a trend towards Modern Quilting parallel lines of quilting spaced evenly apart, often on the diagonal with asymmetrical balance seems de rigueur. 

Testing my theory of how to quilt
Siren's Song

My belief is that the quilting line should add a design element to the piece. It must enhance the composition of the top. It is there to add texture. The texture can help with pushing some elements forward while causing others to recede. This is done by varying the intensity of the quilting. It should not overwhelm the underlying image. This can feel like a of pressure to those new to creating quilts. I thrive on the challenge. For me, the quilting phase is when the quilt comes alive.

First Light is almost done. 

1)  Siren's Song:

a) Finish piecing - Done!
b) Piece backing - Done!
c) Prep for quilting - Started.
d) Begin quilting - Yes and no.

I haven't started quilting Siren's Song, BUT, I have settled on a design. This took some research, some practice drawing it out on paper, and finally spending several hours seeing if I could design on the fly. In other words I want to be able to free motion quilt this design without marking the top. It looks like I can. Yeah!

I focused on the quilting the sky.

2) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

Clearly the motif for Siren's Song counts as FMQ practice. I also spent some time working on First Light. 


3) Do some surface design work - Didn't get to it.

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

It was so tempting to take the easy way with Siren's Song. In other words, not to add the prairie points because they will be a nightmare to quilt to around. Also, why not do an overall stipple pattern? It would be so much easier to execute than the very complex, constantly changing, and requires regular decisions about what to sub-motif to add when. Who is to know when looking at the work what could have been besides me? Why not slam the door on what may or may not turn out to be a great idea, but what is clearly going to be challenging to institute? Because, my muse/gut says this is the way to go. This is not the time to chicken out.

1)  Siren's Song:

a) Prep for quilting
b) Begin quilting

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.

Week in Review 2016 - 09/02

Siren's Song
72" H x 56" W
The sunset image in the photo is
printed on paper. I wanted to test
the scale and approximate color
before committing to have the image
printed on fabric. Although I could
print it myself, the size of the image
requires seams if printed at home.
I find seams detract when they
randomly bisect an image.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Finally! I am far from done with Siren's Song. However, the first major stretch of the journey is complete. As you can see from the full image of where I left off yesterday, there is a gap that needs filling in. The background is complete. It is time to savor the moment. 

The practice of yoga teaches one the importance of resting poses between the more taxing poses. At first I found resting the most difficult part of my classes. How could I improve my balance, strengthen muscles, gain more flexibility if all I did was stay still focusing on breathing in and out? Every muscle in my body was twitching, preparing for action, a full body toe tapping state of being during those early classes. No more. I have learned to embrace times of rest. 

Siren's Song will rest briefly. I need the time to strategize how to fill that gap. I do my best strategizing subconsciously as I go about my daily chores or write in my morning pages. I may do an experiment or two to test various theories. It is best not rush. It is best to ponder. It is time well spent, like resting between strenuous yoga poses. When I approach my work this way, although it can feel counter intuitive, ultimately it saves me time.

First Light
This is my first Spoonflower experiment.
I "painted" the sky on my iPad using the
app Sketchbook Pro. Then I manipulated the
color and added the tree silhouettes
in PicMonkey.

My work as Chair of SAQA's Exhibition Committee continued to provide me with a significant number of projects requiring my attention. This week, however I was able to get into the studio, and most importantly focus while I was there. The results are clear is you can see:

1)  Siren's Song:
a) Finish row 9 - Done!
b) Select image to be seen through the porthole. - Done!
c) Design backing fabric - Done!
d) Have fabric printed - Done!

Both the sunset image and the backing fabric have been ordered from Spoonflower. The picture was taken by my husband and then I manipulated through PicMonkey. This is a free software application that is available as part of the design process on Spoonflower. It allows me to adjust color, and in this case I used a radial filter. I designed the backing fabric, too. It is based on another photo taken from my husband, the one I abstracted for the background on the front side of Siren's Song. 
2) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

It felt good to get back to free motion quilting.
This is a detail of the quilting in First Light.

I was concerned that going for a full month without any time spent on free motion quilting I would feel rusty. This was not the case. It felt natural to spend a few hours on filling in more of the sky in First Light. 
3) Do some surface design work - Not done.

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

The gym I belong to has break weeks between sessions. Some classes are held, many more are canceled. This week is also when many of the rooms are refurbished. Fortunately, yoga was not canceled. However, some people looking for something to do decided to give yoga a try. The dynamics of the class changes dramatically when so many people are new, naturally uncertain and frankly distracting. It is easy for me to feel resentful and wanting things not to change. I chose to welcome the new students and appreciate their presence. Change may bring momentary discomfiture; it also brings progress.
What progress will I make next week? No idea. However, I do have a plan as follows:

1)  Siren's Song - piece the partial blocks that will be surrounding the sunset.

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.

Week in Review 2016 - 07/08

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I did a little more work on First Light this week.

What is going on? Honestly, I can't seem to settle on a design for my next piece. Could this be a case of artist block? I don't think so. I have lots of ideas, theories and experiments. It is just that nothing is coming together. It has me feeling very unsettled and jumpy. Fortunately, I do have  my game plan to follow, much of it involving hand stitching. This helps calm the jitters.

If I only shared my plans and how they went, it would appear that I have everything under control as you can see:

Detail from First Light

1) Work on Sunrise Abstraction - Done!

a) Attach the sleeve - Done!
b) Make and attach the label - Done!

2) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

Who knew that stitching rows of thread
to be gathered across a 20" x 20" piece of
fabric would take so long?

I worked some more on First Light. It is coming along nicely. I will be placing an order for more thread today. Turns out that despite having what I suspect is in excess of 100 spools of thread I don't have the right shade of greens for the sky (and I have more greens than any other color) or the deep red/orange at the base of the quilt. Just doing my part to keep the economy going. :)

3) Do some surface design work - Done!

Or that gathering the thread, thread that I had tested
for its tensile strength, would prove that the real test
is in the project itself. Even the gathering is taking
a fair bit of time. 

I've started work on two different surface design projects. The first requires sewing lines of thread on fabric that are then pulled to gather the fabric. The gathering acts as a form of resist when dyed, since the dye will permeate the fabric on the surface more easily than that which is hidden inside.

I am also testing out blue glue gel as a resist. I've drawn patterns on the fabric with the glue. It needs to dry thoroughly before painting/dyeing can begin. I'm actually thinking that a fun way to go might be with ink and shaving cream. The key is for the glue not to "wash out" before the paint/dye/ink has dried. 
4) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open - Done!

Blue glue gel used as a resist

I am currently listening to The Mathematician's Shiva. Great title isn't it? It is one of those books that is slow to get going and dips regularly into involved explanations that can feel like too much information. Boy, does it nail what it is like to grow up in an academic family, though. This is why I am grateful that I didn't give up. When it is good, it is excellent.

Next week I hope to be able to share the plans for my next artwork. If don't come up with any, at least I have surface design experiments and free motion quilting practice to fill in my studio time, as you can see:


1) Create the blueprint for the next artwork

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.

Week in Review 2016 - 07/01

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Add caption

"Don't you have anything constructive to do?" This was a question I was asked frequently enough by my mother when I was growing up that it is branded in my brain. Even when I am doing what I have chosen to do, I find myself asking "is this constructive?" "Am I making the best use of my time." Maybe my child self had it right. She was a questioner and a rebel. As a child I asked (ok I never asked this question out loud, just in my head) "Why do I always need to do something constructive?" 

Practicing yoga for more than five years has taught me how to just be. There are many poses that do this yoga. When I first started I often found the rest poses more difficult than the more physically challenging ones, like Eagle. Yes, I can actually do Eagle pose and hold it for a minute or so. This week, I was the only student who showed up for my Thursday yoga class. The teacher asked what I would like to do. I certainly didn't say "something  constructive." :) What I asked for was a contemplative class focusing on rest poses, explaining that learning how to rest was an attribute I was working on and felt that this ability had been strengthening over the years thanks to yoga. So that is what we did.

Later that day I spent the afternoon free motion quilting the clouds in First Light. For me, free motion quilting is the rest pose between the more strenuous physical poses. No surprise, quilting, like yoga and like life seems to be most fulfilling for me when there is a balance between restful, contemplative times and the more active, creative problem solving times.

First Light
Click on this or any image for an enlarged view.

This was primarily a rest week, at least in the studio as you will see:

1) Work on Sunrise Abstraction - Done!

a) Attach the sleeve - Done!
b) Make and attach the label - Partially done.

I printed out the label, but have yet to attach it to the quilt.

2) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

This is a detail of the free motion quilted clouds
form First Light.

Just a few more "tricky" bits left on First Light around the trees. I'm looking forward to moving on to the more wide open areas of the sky.

3) Do some surface design work - Done!

This week I decided to have a go at removing an object from its background using Power Point. Once removed the object can pasted onto another background. I'm not convinced this method has any advantage over doing the same thing with Photoshop Elements. 
4) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open - Done!

This may be splitting hairs as to whether I stayed open or not. I've been taking an online class called Woman Unleashed Retreat. There have been a couple of strong sessions, but many of the sessions just don't speak to me. Sometimes I feel I already have learned what is being taught. Other times, it isn't something I am even interested in doing. I've worked hard at staying open, but occasionally the topic is something I can't see ever having value for me. So, rather than torture myself by listening to the full session on useless topic, I am staying open to walking out on that session. 

The result of my surface design project for the week.
I removed the cruise ship from one photograph
and added it to the water background fabric I shared
in the prior week's blog. 

Next week is an abbreviated work week, since Monday is a holiday. I will be both restful and active if I work my way through the following studio to do list.

1) Work on Sunrise Abstraction

a) Attach the sleeve
b) Make and attach the label

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.

Week in Review 2016 - 06/24

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

One summer a local artist, Eddie Cascieri,
who lived in my neighborhood, organized
a two week summer art camp for teenagers.
My mother signed me up. I loved it. The
class was all about play and experimentation.
That brief interlude, and Eddie's nurturing
encouragement sustain me in my studio
nearly 45 years later. Eddie is on the right.
Her husband, Archangelo Cascieri,
whom she called Angel, was a sculptor,
whose work can be seen in downtown Boston.

I'm on retreat. The best part of this retreat is that I can participate from home.  It was the title, Woman Unleashed Retreat and the fact that it was free that got me to take the impulsive leap to join. Each day for two weeks I receive an email with two video sessions that focus on linking self care with creativity. The videos are made by a variety of motivational women, painters and mixed media artists. What has surprised me is that on several occasions the hosts confess to being to do list makers and being overwhelmed by their lists. 

It is one thing to make to do lists, it is quite another to take those lists and prioritize them. The key for getting things accomplished and feeling less harried, in my opinion, is developing the habit of a prioritized to do list that you maintain on your computer. On my iMac, I use Mac's program, Reminders for this. However, any computer generated to do list that you can access from your various devices, that allows you to assign items to calendar dates, prioritize items and print out your list by date(s) will work. 


Here is my mini tutorial on creating prioritized to do lists:

Step 1: Write out your to do list. 

Step 2: Now analyze it. Which items are date sensitive? Which items are essential? What items must be done in sequence? Are there logical ways to group some of the items? 

Step 3: Assign either an A, B, or C to each of the items. An A is an immediate must. A B should be assigned to anything that is important but not immediate. Finally a C is neither immediate or very important, at least in the short term.

Work has begun on First Light.

Step 4: Look at only the items marked A on the list. Give each one a number from 1 to the number of items on the list. Number 1 is the most important to get to done. The highest number is the least important. 

Step 5: I usually don't bother prioritizing my B and C lists until I complete doing my A list for the day.

Step 6: Start your day by doing A1, if you have time to do A2, A3, etc. - do them. If you do this consistently every day by the end of the year you will have accomplished approximately a 1,000 or more of the most important things in your life. 

So why do I keep everything on the computer? Because that way I don't waste time rewriting and rewriting my lists. It is easy move what doesn't get done, to the next logical date.

One of the pieces I made using dishwashing liquid as a resist.

Studio time is on my A list on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. That is why I can share what I accomplished this week. 

1) Work on Sunrise Abstraction- Started

a) Make and attach the sleeve - I have made the sleeve and started to attach it
b) Make and attach the label - Not yet.

2) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

I've started quilting First Light, the whole piece quilt I designed in Art on the iPad. The first part is slow going since I am starting and stopping after very few stitches in order to not quilt over the trees. 

3) Do some surface design work - Done!

Another dishwashing liquid resist experiment. This time
I began by drawing leaf shapes with the soap.

I was inspired to try using dish soap as a resist after reading Julie B. Booth's article in the June/July 2016  issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. The appeal to me is that I didn't have to deal with hot wax. The disappointment is that the resist didn't resist as much as I might have liked.
4) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open - Done!

I am slogging my way through the retreat. It would be so much easier to give up. Much of the material covers self care, good habits and being mindful of how the past influences the present. It is geared to women who have little "me" time because they are raising children. I'm beyond that. I have "me" time. It is easy to miss the lessons that I can learn, and there are lessons to learn, because I tend to tune out during messages that are old news. I had my first aha moment yesterday. I'm so glad I stayed open to continuing.

Next week will be busy. I'm grateful I have developed the habit of a prioritized to do list. It gives me the confidence to know that I will have studio time next week and when I do here is what I will be doing:

1) Work on Sunrise Abstraction

a) Attach the sleeve
b) Make and attach the label

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.